


On land, in sea

by embeer2004



Series: The barber surgeon and the sea [4]
Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: Abduction, Alternate Universe, Angst, Comfort, Fish out of Water, Gen, Hurt, Illnesses, Investigations, Language Barrier, Loneliness, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Protectiveness, Rape/Non-con Elements, merman au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2020-10-12 12:50:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 27,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20564627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/embeer2004/pseuds/embeer2004
Summary: Eskel and Lambert were supposed to meet up with Gwynbleidd at Caer a’Muirehen, but neither of them would make it that year. Instead, Eskel was forced to go after the humans that had taken his little brother.





	1. The trek

**Author's Note:**

> Witcher timeline, what timeline? This is an AU! Hope you enjoy.  
*  
When speaking _“Italics”_ indicates the merfolk speaking in their native language or someone speaking in Hen Linge, “Normal” when people are speaking in the Common Tongue.  
*  
If you're hesitant about the Rape/non-con elements tag and the non-con drug use - see the endnote.  


Lambert felt like he’d been floating for much too long in a shallow pool on a hot summer’s day. He felt warm, unpleasantly so, but he couldn’t escape to a deeper part of the sea to cool off.  
  
He couldn’t escape at all.  
  
Opening his burning eyes, he glared at the darkness in front of him, and with a trembling hand he felt upwards, out of the water, but before he could even stretch out his arm fully he’d reached the lid of his wooden prison.  
  
Shivering, he rolled onto his side, wrapping his arms around his aching belly. It had been so long since he’d had anything to eat, but even if someone offered him a fish right now he wasn’t going to eat it. He felt nauseous, and the jerky movements and sudden twists didn’t help.  
  
Swallowing heavily, he rubbed his cheek along the floor of his prison, hoping to find some cooler spots, but it was in vain.  
  
He’d had a sunstroke once, back when he’d been much younger. He’d been lying in the shallow waters, basking in the sun’s rays, and he’d fallen asleep. When he’d woken up his head had felt weird and he’d felt much too hot as he’d dizzily made his way back to Caer a’Muirehen. When Vesemir had spotted him swimming into the cave the old merman had swam up to him and grasped his chin, and one look seemed to be all the old fish had needed as he’d nodded and dragged Lambert to the merling’s nest. Vesemir had fussed and worried over him and had luckily waited until he was feeling better to scold him and warn him that he must be more careful, not only because of the sun, but because of the threat that the land-dwellers formed.  
  
This felt an awful lot like back then, but… _different_.  
  
Snorting, Lambert rolled back a bit and gathered all his energy. Then he pushed off the floor of his prison using his tail and slammed both of his hands against the wooden lid. Breathing heavily, he waited a few more moments before bracing himself and, again, slammed his hands against the lid.  
  
It was no use. Just as it had been no use when he’d tried it just after he’d been captured.  
  
A low whine settled in his throat and somehow a slippery eel had found its way inside his guts and was now furiously whirling inside of him. He felt ill and his prison was so dark and too hot…  
  
A harsh voice shouted loudly, no doubt telling him to quit it from the angry tone, but Lambert didn’t care if he ruined these creatures’ plans.  
  
His low whine turned into a louder keen. Lambert let himself slip into his alternate form, feeling his claws lengthen as his face changed. He wanted out, he needed out, _right now_! He started clawing at the wood, his tail trembling as he tried to create enough force to lash out.  
  
More shouting. Then the jostling stopped and, startled, Lambert stilled and shifted back to his normal form, though an unwanted keening still rose from his throat.  
  
He was blinded by the light suddenly appearing from above and he had to blink a few times before it made sense. A human had opened up his prison, and the creature’s guttural speech made it clear that it wasn’t pleased _at all_.  
  
Sitting up as quickly as he could, Lambert breathed in the dry air as he could finally rise beyond the walls of his prison. His chest heaved as he drew in large gulps of fresh and _cool _air, even though it was dry. This was so much better than the sweltering water he’d been in for so long already, how long had he’d been in there, days… weeks?  
  
Another loud and harsh shout near him had him covering his ears and his eyes shut of their own accord in reaction to the excruciating noise.  
  
_“Stop shouting!”_ He sang, but they either didn’t understand him, or didn’t listen.  
  
There was a calmer voice then, and whatever was being said, it caused the noises around him to still.  
  
Carefully, a bit hesitant, Lambert opened his eyes and lowered his hands. He swivelled his head around and could see trees and, farther away, snow-capped mountains. The slippery eel wriggled through his gut again and he pressed his hand against his belly, wishing it to still. Just where had these creatures taken him?  
  
A bald human approached slowly, a tall one, covered up to its neck in some kind of plate armour, and its earlobe was pierced by what seemed to be a large metal bolt. The human was speaking quietly and the voice was the same calm one as just a moment ago; the one that made the noise stop.  
  
Feeling his hackles rising, Lambert suppressed his instinctive reaction of lashing out and tearing them all to pieces. He was no fool after all. There wasn’t any water as far as he could see and he had no idea where he was. _“Where are you taking me?”_ He asked, watching the tall human to see if there was any glimmer of recognition at his words.  
  
The human stopped just an arm’s breadth from his prison and it tilted its head at him, a curious glint in its eyes before they turned to slits. The creature said something, and though its eyes didn’t leave Lambert’s face the merman knew it hadn’t been speaking to him.  
  
The human’s nose scrunched up in disgust and it walked around until it was standing at the fin-end of his prison. It stared for a good long moment before its shoulders hunched a bit and the creature shook its head, a wistful look settling on its face.  
  
Confused, Lambert tried to curl his tail around him, but the shape of his prison caused him to rub his scales harshly against the wooden sides and he gave up his effort, not wishing to mutilate himself. He would just have to content himself to stay sitting as he was.  
  
All of a sudden there was a noise behind him and, looking over his shoulder, Lambert noticed one of the humans clambering down from a cart, holding something in its arms; something smelly. Two animals very similar to kelpies were tied to the cart, which was laden full with barrels and boxes, and two bald humans, both half-naked giants, sat in the front, holding the reins of the land-kelpies. What skin he could see was covered with odd dark patterns, one of them with swirling circles, and the other had eerie markings in the shape of a skull and bones necklace and what looked to be some kind of pointy flower on its chest.  
  
Lambert reached up to his own chest, missing the familiar weight of his shell necklace.  
  
When he twisted to the other side he noticed that his prison stood on another cart and was also being drawn by two land-kelpies. Another giant sat in the front, wearing full armour, and this one had some wisps of grey hair on its head and its face was all wrinkly. It looked angry, but the human’s gaze was not settled on him, but on the tall bald human with the metal bolt.  
  
Then his eyes drifted to each side of his prison, towards the two bulky humans that observed him with wary eyes. They too were bare-chested, but unlike the other giants they had some patches of dark hair spread in odd places around their head and faces. Both humans wore some sort of baldric, and there was a tiny cloth tied around their necks. Lambert stared for a moment longer, appreciating the variations of naked females on their naked flesh, only sparing a glance at the other images. Skulls, daggers, bones and females… that’s what this group seemed to like.  
  
Lambert’s eyes drifted over the many humans, and he snarled, seeing all of them carrying large swords at their sides.  
  
A scrawny human, one fully clothed, showing off only a large round medallion, approached the quiet one then. It seemed to be the youngest of this pack and it offered whatever was in its arms to the tall human, before stepping back. The quiet one nodded and unwrapped a package, revealing a large and dead salmon.  
  
Grabbing the wall of his wooden prison, Lambert managed to vomit _outside _of the water, and he felt miserable as only bile came up. His eyes stung. His arms trembled and he collapsed against the wood, his breath shuddering.  
  
His head was spinning and he closed his eyes as he rested his forehead more comfortably against the wood.  
  
A warm hand touched his shoulder, but Lambert shrugged, feeling too ill and tired to try and communicate with the land-dweller. The hand pulled away then and the human said something, still speaking quietly, and there seemed to be a note of concern in its voice. Then the salmon was being shoved against his chest.  
  
Reflexively, Lambert caught it, but he let it fall to his lap, nausea overwhelming him at the smell. He kept his eyes closed and listened, hearing the creature’s steps as it moved away and then it spoke a bit louder, addressing the other humans, no doubt.  
  
A whistle broke through the air and they started moving again.  
  
Lambert was glad they didn’t force him to move back down into the water. He didn’t think he would be able to handle it all that well if the heavy lid came down again, trapping him in utter darkness and sweltering heat.  
  
The air touching his warm skin was so nice and cool…  
  
Shifting a bit, Lambert swallowed back another round of bile as he felt the dead fish moving against his scales. He didn’t want to throw it away though, the humans might see that as an insult or an attack and lock him up again.  
  
Focusing on breathing the dry air, Lambert felt the world spinning madly as he got jolted around. Pressing his hand against his belly, he opened his eyes and looked towards the land-kelpies. That made the clenching nausea gripping him only a slightly bit better, and he really wished they were _there _already, wherever these beings intended to take him.  
  
After all, wishing they’d bring him back to the sea was a fool’s wish.  
  
At least they hadn’t captured Eskel…  
  
~*~  
  
He drifted in and out of consciousness as the humans dragged him farther along the land’s paths.  
  
The water of his prison had come fresh from the sea when he’d been captured, but during the long days and nights it had grown filthy; no good place for any sea-dweller. That the humans had allowed the top of his prison to be removed did offer him some fresh air to cool down, but in between the filthy water and the dry, thin, air it was getting difficult to catch a good breath.  
  
His head hadn’t stopped spinning for days now, but at least during one of their infrequent stops the human with the calm voice and the bolt in its ear had pointed at the fish on his lap and raised its eyebrow, curling its fingers inward. Lambert had picked it up then with some difficulty, and, with a trembling hand, had pushed the fish over the edge of his prison before sinking back down in the water. That’s when the shivering had started, and the tremors refused to let up.  
  
He was ill; he knew it, the humans knew it, but unless they found him clean water and an environment that _did not move _he was only bound to get worse.  
  
Teeth chattering, Lambert forced his aching muscles to cooperate and rolled onto his side, fully submerged in the filthy water. He curled up as much as he could, which wasn’t much at all actually, trying to ease the painful cramping.  
  
Trying to take his mind off his current situation, Lambert closed his eyes and envisioned his favourite rock, back home near Caer a’Muirehen, and he imagined his brothers swimming below and singing stories as he lay curled up on the warm blood moss, soaking up the sun’s heat.  
  
The image faded behind his closed lids and instead, he saw Eskel falling and, unbidden, a soft whine escaped his throat as his mind started drifting, recalling the events of his capture…  
  
~*~  
  
He and Eskel had met up in Ys like they did nearly every year, preparing to set out to Caer a'Muirehen together. As was their custom by now, they’d meet Gwynbleidd and Vesemir at the keep, as the mermen’s paths tended to lead them to the western parts of the sea when spring arrived to the Skellige isles.  
  
Lambert and Eskel preferred the cooler waters of the north though, and both liked the city of Ys well enough to stay several days there, waiting until the other one showed up, same time every year, before continuing south.  
  
Ys was a quaint city, with vodyanoi and merfolk living together in harmony in the human ruins they had restored together. Well, last year there had been a _little_ incident though, but that got resolved peacefully with offering a little figurine and a bracelet to each other’s respective species. The errant sea-cow that had somehow found her way this far north had been lucky Lambert hadn’t been in the mood to hunt her down as an offering. But overall, Ys’ inhabitants were a peaceful kind, and all throughout the year the city was bustling lively and hosted many travellers, who either sought the comforts of a good meal, an amorous night in kelp beds, or some other type of entertainment.   
  
This year he and Eskel had met up and had decided to stay for a while longer to investigate the matter of human pearl divers coming too close to their city and scaring their merfry, and after a few days of looking around and questioning upset parents they finally had the chance to scare the living daylights out of those divers as they took on their alternate shapes and started lazily chasing the humans. That had been fun.  
  
So they’d celebrated their victory and had first gone to their favourite inn for some good food and firewater before swimming to the surface, as they did every day just before dusk. Eskel had cocked his head at him then and had smiled a knowing smile before swimming over to one of their favourite places here. It was always a bit difficult, dragging themselves up on the rocky outcropping, but the climb was certainly worth it to lie comfortably on a large bed of blood moss. Nearly nothing beat the sensation of heat rising off the moss from underneath them, while the last rays of the sun caressed their drying skin.  
  
Vesemir had warned them time and time again.  
  
It was his own fault he’d been captured.  
  
He’d grown too comfortable with the humans living in Bremervoord, as to them, merfolk and vodyanoi were pretty normal sights. Oh, they grumbled and groused at them scaring their pearl divers, but hey, that’s what they deserved if they scared their young. Just a playful lesson for both species, one Lambert and Eskel were happy to repeat when needed.  
  
This time though, Eskel had been slightly drunk, laughing as he did his impression of the diver’s face, and Lambert too had felt a bit tipsy, and neither of them had paid enough attention to their surroundings. Oh sure, Lambert had heard the whoosh, but it took him just a bit too long to figure out what caused it, and then he’d only had a glimpse of _something _coming at him through the air and he’d been quick enough to knock Eskel down into the water, but it had been too late for himself. He hadn’t managed to move out of the way and before he really knew what had happened he’d found himself caught in unwieldy netting, high on the rocky outcrop.  
  
There had been a shout… the creaking of a wooden boat and fluttering sails… and then there’d been a tugging on the netting trapping him and he’d been dragged down into the boat like he was some fisherman’s catch. He’d shouted at the humans then, showing off his claws and fangs, hissing and spitting as they tried to come near him.  
  
There had been a sharp throbbing pain as he got hit in the back of his head, causing stars to show up much earlier than they should have and he’d passed out.  
  
When he woke up it had been completely dark and he’d been barely able to move before his tail hit an unseen wall. He’d freaked out then…  
  
~*~  
  
Lambert felt himself being hoisted upwards, and then there were warm hands on him, moving his arms, and something was tied around his chest, going over his shoulders and looping under his armpits. Then there was a _pull _and he felt himself rising part-way out of the water.  
  
His mouth fell open in a gasp and he eagerly sucked in the dry air. Then he blinked his burning eyes, trying to decide whether it was better or worse than just a moment ago, before giving up, falling limp. Dully, he realised that some kind of harness had been wrapped around his upper body, preventing him from slipping back in the awful water.  
  
The humans had stopped moving, no doubt to give the land-kelpies some time to rest before continuing to wherever they were taking him.  
  
Lambert refused to feel grateful; if it hadn’t been for these humans he and Eskel would be back home already, back with Gwynbleidd and Vesemir.  
  
He only realised he’d been keening softly when a warm hand touched his shoulder, and the smell of something salty was held up in front of his nose. Opening his eyes tiredly, Lambert saw a piece of brown _something _in front of him and his lips pulled up at the smell.  
  
It was the tall and calm human again, and Lambert _was _grateful that so far the other creatures left him alone. The grey-haired one didn’t shout anymore or slap the side of his prison and the others never came near, they just alternated which ones sat on each side of him; guarding him, making sure he didn’t escape. They didn’t interact with him though, and when they looked at him it was the way those vodyanoi had when they’d seen the sea-cow…  
  
The calm human shook his shoulder, and when it had his attention again, it motioned with the brown _something_, nibbling on a piece itself before holding it towards him.  
  
Feeling worn-out, Lambert closed his eyes. Sleep was good…  
  
Something pressed against his lips and, annoyed at the feeling, he opened his mouth, startling as a salty taste spread in his mouth. He sucked on the little morsel and prodded it with his tongue, figuring it was some kind of meat.  
  
The human crooned at him and it seemed to let out a relieved sigh.  
  
Slowly chewing, Lambert felt his belly twisting as he wanted _more _of whatever this was. Swallowing, he opened his eyes again, and he grasped the sides of his prison with trembling hands, trying to sit upright. Good… the human had truly only tied some sort of harness around him, one that didn’t restrict his movements too much.  
  
A cold shiver went through him as he struggled to sit up and he could feel his heart beating wildly in his chest as he twisted, staring at the tall human. _“More?”_ He asked, pointing at his own lips, hoping the creature would get the message.  
  
It did, and its eyes gleamed with relief as it reached for a pouch knotted to its belt and took it off, opening it up for him.  
  
A harsh guttural sound came from behind him and Lambert turned his head around, having to wait a bit for his head to stop spinning before could see the human that had just spoken.  
  
Then the calm voice said something and there was a soft sound, and when Lambert turned back he felt foolish that he’d let himself be distracted in this manner. The cloth pouch lay carefully perched on the edge of his prison, and the calm human had taken a step back, well beyond his reach.  
  
Huffing, Lambert picked up a piece of the salted meat. Like what? He was going to slice at the one creature that he’d been able to tolerate thus far? He felt as weak as a merfry right now, and they thought he’d been faking his illness all this time?  
  
And it had been a long, long time already. Lambert had lost track of the suns that had passed by. Between his dreams and his dizziness he had a hard time enough already figuring out what was _real_.  
  
A guffawing laugh sounded from behind and Lambert felt his hackles rising, but he refused to look. Instead, he quickly grasped the open package and held it to his chest as he ate piece after piece after piece until there were no more.  
  
The tall human had a funny look on its face, its eyes all wide and its eyebrows drawn up high on its forehead.  
  
Smacking his lips, Lambert lifted his upper lip, giving the creature a good view of his teeth, before settling down, managing to lay down, half out of the water and supported by the harness.  
  
Patting his stomach, Lambert was very pleased to discover that the humans had decided to stay where they were, at least for a while. He was so sick of all the jostling…  
  
With a settled stomach and his limbs feeling oddly heavy, Lambert decided to give in to his body’s desire for sleep, and, closing his eyes, he allowed himself to drift off.   
  
~*~  
  
He remembered the jerky movements that came with the cart being pulled by the land-kelpies, guttural voices laughing and barking out harsh words, and the sky changing colours several times, in between being fed more pieces of salty meat.  
  
Lambert thought that at one point he’d even heard a stream of water rushing nearby, but he’d blinked for just a moment and when he’d opened his eyes again he was back in the dark and the water covering him from top to fin felt _different_. A bit cleaner, but _wrong_.  
  
Reaching up, he was confused at feeling the cover of his prison firmly back in place. He held back the keen that wanted to escape his throat, but he couldn’t help scratching his long nails along the lid, futilely trying to claw his way out.  
  
He felt three small taps coming from outside of his prison, and a calm voice spoke to him; the quiet human with the bolt in its ear.  
  
Why had they locked him up again? Hadn’t he been a good little prisoner? Lambert reached a hand up to his chest, tangling it in the harness still tied around his upper body and he willed his oncoming panic to go _down_ already. Freaking out wouldn’t get him anywhere in this situation, he had to keep his wits!  
  
There was a shout from outside and Lambert’s fingers twitched in reaction, his long nails cutting into his flesh, but he didn’t feel it, not really, though he did smell his blood mingling in the water.  
  
Another shout, and then the voice spoke again and Lambert thought it sounded a bit like the way Gwynbleidd spoke to small merfry, calm and soothing.  
  
Slamming his hands against the lid, Lambert cried shrilly. _“Let me out, you ploughing land-dwellers! Open up!”_  
  
There was another tap against the wall of his prison, followed by a low hissing sound.  
  
Shaking his head, Lambert clawed at the wooden cover. He couldn’t stay in the dark anymore, he had to get out, _now. “What did I do wrong? Please, I’m sorry!”_ He cried. _“Let me out!”  
_  
His cries got overwhelmed by harsh shouting, and it was all _too loud_! Lambert pressed his hands over his ears and squeezed his eyes shut, rolling onto his side. He just had to keep his eyes closed. He’d be fine. It was dark because his eyes were closed and the water smelled funny because he’d been bleeding into it. Nothing he couldn’t handle. _  
_  
He started humming an old tune he remembered his mom singing to him.  
  
After who knew how long the angry noises quieted and Lambert heard a creaking coming from above.  
  
He wasn’t going to look though. He just had to keep his eyes closed and he’d be fine; if he kept them closed for long enough he’d fall asleep and then he’d dream of better times…  
  
Suddenly there was a pull on his harness and he was lifted part-way out of the water. There were hands on him, moving him this way and that, and Lambert felt a tugging sensation. Then the hands disappeared and he started to slide back down before his motion was stopped, and he realised vaguely that his harness had been anchored again.  
  
Lambert still refused to open his eyes and he kept on humming; his hands pressed tightly to his ears, trying to drown out the sounds around him. He could still hear the humans though, and he heard the icy tone the normally calm human adopted as it growled, clearly making a threat of some kind.  
  
The other humans gave a meek reply, clearly chastised, and Lambert let out a sigh of relief that it hadn’t been _him _the human had threatened.  
  
There was a light touch on his cheek, trailing up his forehead, but still Lambert refused to open his eyes. He was done cooperating.  
  
The hand retreated and he heard a wistful sigh, followed by soft footsteps.  
  
Another whistle, and the land-kelpies started walking, rattling his prison with each step they took.  
  
Lambert could feel the cool air touching his skin and he shivered, rolling as much onto his side as the harness allowed, and it took a great amount of effort, but finally he managed to coil his tail upwards, forcefully rubbing off some scales in the process, leaving burning and bleeding patches of skin in their stead. Huddling against the side of his prison as tightly as he could, he tucked his face against his tail and curled his wing-fins around his waist.  
  
He was _fine_.  
  
~*~  
  
When a weightless warmth touched his cheek Lambert finally opened his eyes and tried to blink away the haze that had overcome his mind. He felt like an empty shell, hollowed out, and he felt like he could eat a sea-cow, or two…  
  
Sunlight was touching his skin, and Lambert blinked again, his head spinning as he untangled himself from the tight ball he’d curled up in, sitting up. He finally saw the sun where she was perched on bluish-looking mountains and in the distance he could see a human city nestled at the mountains’ stony base. He had a feeling that was where they were headed.  
  
Seeing him up and about, the calm human held up its hand and they came to a halt. Then the human handed over the reins of the land-kelpies to the runt of the pack, before coming over to his side. The creature crouched down next to his prison and tilted its head, a concerned look on its face. It said something and pointed towards his chest and, looking down, Lambert noticed the scratch marks he’d given himself.  
  
Rubbing a careful hand over them, Lambert nodded. _“They’ll heal.”_ That’s when he noticed the dark bruising around the human’s eye and, confused, Lambert looked at the other humans, seeing similar bruises and even a red-splotched bandage around the arm of the loud grey-hair. He lifted his hand to his own eye, a mirror image of the tall human, before pointing at its bruised eye. _“What happened?”_  
  
The human blinked, surprised, and touched the bruised skin. It hummed at him, clearly trying to copy his singing and failing horribly.  
  
Lambert huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. They would get nowhere like this.  
  
Then the creature’s look changed to an amused one and a smile broke out over its face as it nodded and said “Fine”. It looked at him funnily, and its lips perched for a moment before it nodded. Then the human pointed at its chest. “Adam Pangratt.”  
  
Narrowing his gaze, Lambert realised the creature was trying to talk to him, but he didn’t understand.  
  
Then the human tapped its chest again, saying “Adam,” before pointing towards his own chest and tilting its head.  
  
“Adam…” Lambert drawled slowly, trying to mimic the sound, and when he noticed the human’s surprised but pleased look as it patted its own chest again he realised that he’d been given the name of one of his captors.  
  
There was an odd noise then, and when Lambert looked back he spotted the grey-hair in the process of pulling its sword from its scabbard. The old human barked at the calm one, _Adam_, and it stood up, drawing its own sword.  
  
The two creatures stalked closer while the others kept at bay. Adam started speaking then, quietly but in an urgent voice, before the human was interrupted by the grey-hair’s loud snarling. The old human jerked its chin towards Lambert and when it next spoke it sounded calmer, urging Adam to understand _something_.  
  
Lambert waited, a bit worried how this would unfold, but after a moment of intense staring and posturing Adam seemed to deflate and the human nodded, sheathing its sword. It walked over to the other cart and opened one of the barrels, and Lambert closed his eyes as the salty smell of his new favourite food wafted down towards him. He’d grown to like that strange meat, but for some reason his body spent an enormous amount of effort in digesting it, as he nearly always drifted off into a food coma right after eating it.  
  
It still tasted better than dead fish though.  
  
But it was never enough…  
  
Adam slowly walked up to his prison and lay down a cloth with some pieces of dark meat on it and, eagerly, feeling famished, Lambert carefully picked up the cloth and started devouring the pieces. He’d fully come to expect the drowsiness that came after finishing his meal, but this time the drowsiness struck him harder than before and he could feel a tingling sensation in his lips. _Odd._  
  
Willing his eyes to stay open just a bit longer, he looked towards the tall human. _“Thanks, Adam,”_ he sang slowly, trying to pronounce the foreign name correctly. The creature was reaching out, it seemed to empathise with him… perhaps he’d be able to convince it to return him to the sea? It didn’t seem likely that the human would be able to convince its pack members, but perhaps…  
  
Lambert sought out Adam’s eyes, and for some reason they glinted with guilt, and the human’s lips were pulled down with a sorrowful twist.  
  
Frowning, Lambert tried to take a deep breath of the oh so thin air, and, feeling like something was squeezing his lungs, he reached his hand up to his chest. That’s when he realised what a merling he’d been all this time and he screeched loudly in betrayal, feeling a stab of muted satisfaction at seeing the humans reaching for their ears.  
  
His limbs felt heavy and his head spun nauseatingly and he couldn’t fight it any longer, so he gave in and closed his eyes…  
  
~*~  
  
There were many hands on Lambert, wrapping something rigid around him and pulling it tight before the hands returned and dragged him up and out of the water.  
  
He felt like crap. It felt like an anemone had gotten stuck in his throat and the eel in his belly had birthed wriggling little elvers. His tail felt hot in some spots, but otherwise he felt cold, so cold…  
  
There were guttural voices speaking, but at least the voices weren’t shouting.  
  
He was being carried, and Lambert felt the chill of the evening air touch every part of him that wasn’t covered by what felt like a net. He wasn’t carried for long though, just a few steps, and then he was placed on the ground, held still by several pairs of hands pressing forcefully down on him.  
  
Wearily opening his eyes, Lambert saw the by now familiar faces of his captors and he felt the stab of betrayal returning as he remembered what he’d allowed to happen. Like a merling he’d taken food from a stranger, and it had been drugged each and every time.  
  
Snarling, he trashed against the hands holding him, but another hand appeared from above and slapped his cheek hard enough to make him see stars. Lying on the ground, dazed, the humans poked and prodded him some and before he knew what had happened his harness and the netting that had been used to trap him were removed and he was shoved, _hard_.  
  
He rolled a bit downhill then, and his body plunged into an icy pool of water. Exploring how far he could go, Lambert realised that he’d been dumped inside a small pond and he was not alone; colourful fish swam in between some water lilies, and darker ones hovered near the bottom.  
  
Rising just enough out of the water until only the top half of his head was exposed to the frigid air, Lambert tried to spot the one who had betrayed him, but he didn’t see the creature. The other giants, and the runt of the pack, were watching him though, and from the turn of their lips he just _knew _that they were incredibly pleased with themselves.  
  
Lambert let himself sink to the floor of his new prison and he slammed the earth beneath him, stilling the cry that wanted to rise up.   
  
His skin itched. It had started itching ever since the water in his prison had felt clearer, and though he’d been able to breathe well enough the water had felt wrong, and now the itchy sensation was even worse. He swam along the pond floor, feeling the uneven patches as he ground up against it, trying to scratch the itchy spots; which meant basically his entire body.  
  
He kept an ear out for any sounds coming from above, and he heard the humans speaking some more, and then there was a low thumping sensation as the creatures walked away.  
  
Curious, he swam to the surface and peered around. Not all humans had left, instead the runt and two half-giants were still there, staring at him. So they were watching him still, it wasn’t over.  
  
He rose a bit higher from the water, taking in his surroundings.  
  
He seemed to be in a lush garden of some sort, though he didn’t recognise many of the plants. The pond he was in seemed to be the centre piece of the garden, which was surrounded by high walls. Lambert knew he’d never be able to scale those walls, but if the humans had gotten in that meant there was a gate somewhere.  
  
They treated him a like a new addition to the pond, so surely they wouldn’t expect him to leave the water of his prison to slither in the garden. He would wait until it was a bit darker and explore his surroundings better.  
  
Lambert felt a pang of hopelessness shoot through his chest. The only way he would get out of this alive was if a land-dweller took pity on him and returned him to the sea. The trek had been so long and he knew the sea was too far away to risk a plunge in the first river he’d encounter. Not to mention, he couldn’t slither all that fast over dry land so he was pretty sure that a land-dweller, human or beast, would spot him long before he reached free water of any kind.  
  
Shivering, Lambert whipped his head around, staring back at the colourful fish. Just what did these humans want with him? This water was clearly fresh water and he was a sea-creature, for Melusine’s sake! Didn’t they know what that meant?  
  
Stilling, Lambert resisted the urge to scratch his itching body.  
  
He knew what it meant.  
  
He had to make the humans understand, or he’d die inside this icy prison.  
  
Swimming towards the shore, he clawed his way up as fast as he could, and used his tail to push him forward on the dry land. _“You idiots!”_ He yelled. _“I can’t stay in there, unless you’re actively seeking to kill me?”_  
  
The two giants moved quickly, reaching for their swords, but seeing how slow he moved they instead rushed towards him and _sat down on him_, squashing his wing-fins and pressing his face harshly to the ground.  
  
There was shouting, and the runt ran away.  
  
Lambert trashed up, struggling to keep his nose out of the earth. _“Let go of me, you idiots! Let go!”_  
  
He heard a metal noise, like the one he’d heard before when the humans had unsheathed their swords, and for a moment Lambert feared what they would do to him. Then one of the humans grunted and a moment later there was a blinding pain shooting through his temple and he could feel blood trickling down his cheek.  
  
_“Please…”_ he whined softly.  
  
The earth shook as heavy footsteps ran towards him and, hurting too much to do anything about it, he let himself be rolled onto his back. He knew he couldn’t change into his alternate form, before he’d even be able to transform the humans would knock him in the head again and besides, he just didn’t have the energy to maintain it. Handy claws for slashing or not; slashing would get him nowhere._  
_  
The runt stood above him, a hint of panic in its eyes, and the grey-hair rushed to his side, reaching for his arms.  
  
Cold metal pinched around his wrists and Lambert jerked, trying to dislodge the heavy cuffs, only to find out that he couldn’t. What was worse was that only an incredibly short piece of chain connected the cuffs to each other, preventing him from moving his hands more than half a fin-length apart.  
  
He shook his head, giving up on the notion of struggling and instead focus on his breathing, which was nearly impossible with the heavy humans still sitting on top of him.  
  
This wasn’t good. _Not good. Not good…_  
  
He should have listened to Vesemir.  
  
Trying to take in a filling breath, Lambert felt another jerk on his wrists and his gaze was drawn downwards, spotting another chain that was attached to the ones between his wrists; it was much longer, and as he followed the coils to their end he spotted a huge black ball that was currently being carried into the water by two of the half-giants.  
  
The humans that sat on top of him moved a bit up when the chain grew taut, and only then they started carefully dragging him back towards the water. The half-giants in the water would take a step, then the ones on land, pushing and pulling on his weary body.  
  
He was but a tail’s length away from the water when the humans inside it grunted in relief; then they swam easily to the side of the pond and got out.  
  
Fearfully, Lambert jerked his wrists, but he only managed to twitch feebly as his chain was still pulled taut, and he couldn’t move the black ball _at all_, it was too heavy.  
  
Suddenly the humans stood up and hurried away, staring at him for a while longer.  
  
Breathing heavily, Lambert pushed off with his tail and returned to the water. Itching or not, slowly killing him or not, he’d rather be down here in the water after all. If he had to look at those humans’ ugly faces one more time he would cry and those creatures would _see _and laugh at him.  
  
Keening softly, knowing only his fellow prisoners could hear him, Lambert curled up beneath some lily pads. Closing his eyes, he started fantasising about dragging one of those horrible creatures into the water, the runt or the grey-hair, and keep it down long enough until it drowned… that was still a better way to go than what they were forcing on him.  
  
He sniffed and pressed his aching temple against the cool floor.  
  
Silly fantasies…  
  
~*~  
  
A colourful fish swam around him, butting his skin and seeming to ask whether he was all right.  
  
He’s stayed down in the water for the remainder of the night and he’d started shivering as the water cooled down even further. He knew he should go on land if he wanted to get warm again, but he didn’t want _them _to see him.  
  
He realised many hours must have passed, for the sun shone down directly from above when he heard impatient voices shouting.  
  
Something fell in the water, but Lambert ignored it. He didn’t feel like he could move even if he tried. He hadn’t thought it to be possible to feel even worse than he’d done back during their travel, but he was quickly proven wrong. He felt bloated and swollen and for one instant he imaged this must be what a puffer-fish felt once it puffed up.  
  
There was another shout, and something fell on him. He didn’t know what it was, but it didn’t move and, as it had sunken to the bottom of the pond, he figured it had to be a rock of some kind. The humans were trying to draw his attention…  
  
A fish, no larger than his hand, swam up to him and touched his cheek, hovering near.  
  
Lambert ignored it.  
  
All of a sudden there was a loud thumping, and the water of his icy prison got sloshed around before something, a human of course, grasped his anchoring chain and pulled, _hard._  
  
He let himself be dragged towards the surface, not seeing a reason to struggle. What was the point?  
  
One of the half-giants, the one with the skull and bones necklace drawn on his skin, was reeling him in, dragging him all the way up on the small piece of land his chains allowed him to reach.  
  
The moment he reached land, Lambert tried to breathe in, having difficulties with both his gills and lungs having swollen up. If this is what one night in true fresh-water would do to him it would be over before a new sun rose…  
  
He felt like a listless and heavy jellyfish, or perhaps a beached and blown up puffer-fish, as grey-hair poked and prodded him with a large stick. When he didn’t rise to the bait the human barked, and one of the creatures pressed his shoulders to the ground while another sat on his tail, way too close to his pelvic fins, and held on tightly to his anchoring chain, forcing his hands still.  
  
Not like he could have lifted his arms even if he tried.  
  
Then grey-hair frowned and it grabbed his chin, reaching up with another hand to the base of his neck, pressing down and it _hurt_. Lambert whined quietly, wishing the creature would stop, but the human’s hands moved down his body, touching his chest and his belly and staring at him in wonder.  
  
The half-giant with the naked females drawn on its chest pointed at his belly and it laughed, uttering guttural noises at its pack members.  
  
The runt shook its head and stepped closer and Lambert closed his eyes, not liking the feel of that round medallion so close to him; there was something _off _about it.  
  
There was a light touch on his cheek, and the runt hummed a quiet tune and, tiredly, Lambert forced his eyes open. The runt reached out again with one of its hands and this time it settled on his forehead, stroking away the cold film of moisture clinging to his skin.  
  
Shivering, Lambert allowed the touch even as a voice in his mind sounding oddly like Vesemir told him to _fight_! He was a warrior after all, not a merling. _You never give up, never!  
_  
_Well, screw you, Vesemir.  
_  
The world spun around him. Then the humans started shouting, right next to his ears and it hurt and everything hurt and why wouldn’t they just shut up?!  
  
~*~  
  
Lambert was only vaguely aware of creatures moving around him and when his ears finally stopped hurting and he could focus again he hesitantly opened his eyes.  
  
There was wrinkly and ugly human standing over him, dressed differently than the others. It seemed to be a male though, but its form was nearly completely covered by a thick dress so he wasn’t fully sure. Perhaps it was something different, Lambert didn’t care. The human was well dressed against the cold, and only some skin of its hands and part of its face were visible. Lambert squinted and tried to figure out what the thing on the creature’s head was; from this angle it looked like a rigid, cloth-jellyfish.  
  
The human held on to a staff, but it didn’t seem to be a walking-aid, like he’d seen some elderly humans use. It seemed to be more like a work of art, with curving grooves trailing up the metal pole, and it was topped by some kind of metal animal; a bird, that Lambert knew, but not one he’d ever seen before. The human looked ill and frail though; the parts of skin that he could see were all blotchy and wrinkled and there was a sour smell coming from the creature.   
  
The human cooed as it came closer to him and it reached out a weathered hand to him, while the other humans still kept a firm grip on him, pressing him down against the soil. Lambert suspected the creature wasn’t truly human, for its hands looked more like knobbly claws and those were not things he’d ever seen on any other human. The clawed hand gripped his chin, lifting it, and another horrible gnarled hand touched the skin below his eyes, pulling down before shifting to lift his eyelid.   
  
Dark and cold eyes stared down at him from too close a distance, and there was something else in them, but Lambert couldn’t remember what it was. Then the human’s hands started roving all over his body, feeling his skin and pressing down, reminding Lambert of the way a healer’s hands would flutter about during an examination.  
  
_“They think you are carrying,”_ the wrinkly human told him quietly and oh so slowly, just as he prodded too close to his private organs, stroking the scales nearby much more tenderly than Lambert would have thought the creature capable of. A shudder went through him at the touch; its hands lingered for just a bit too long, much longer than was necessary; and that dark stare, those eel-like eyes, they freaked him out.  
  
_“Carry’ng… wh’t? P’rsites?”_ Lambert slurred, twitching against the hands pressing down on him and trying to dislodge those probing, lingering hands.  
  
The human’s hands stilled and the creature sidled closer, tapping its lip before narrowing its eyes at him, thoughtfully. _“You sing too fast, my friend. Please, sing slower so uncle Dethmold can understand you.”  
_  
Lambert froze, except for an unwanted tremor running through his body. The creepy feeling he’d been getting from this human, a man by the way he identified himself, intensified. While there were obvious differences in species’ customs he had a feeling that calling oneself _uncle _of one they had just met wasn’t normal behaviour.  
  
The human, _Dethmold_, shook its head and stroked over his pelvic fins, brushing them aside and rubbing much too harshly at the sensitive organs they hid from sight. _“Sing… slower…”_ the man said excruciating slow and it irked Lambert having to listen to it. The man sounded like a whale.  
  
Furious, a burst of energy ran through him and he snarled and spat at the creature, or at least he tried to; his unwieldy and bloated tongue refused to cooperate, and only a pitiful gurgle escaped his throat. He twisted his upper lip, clearly showing off his fangs, but instead of reacting to it like a normal person, this human pressed a thumb against his cheek and pushed inward, before lowering his head; a look of admiration gleaming in its beady eyes. If Lambert tried to bite him or close his mouth, with the way he was being held right now, he’d only injure himself. He was forced to keep his mouth open for a bit longer before Dethmold finally smirked and nodded, releasing its grip.  
  
The humans pressed down on him just a bit harder, making sure he couldn’t try anything, and the one crouching down right above his head pressed its meaty palm on his chest, for extra measure.  
  
Huffing, Lambert tried to take in a breath, only to find he couldn’t, not until Dethmold waved a gnarly hand in the air and the humans let up a bit.  
  
Gasping, Lambert felt exactly like what he was: a fish on dry land, stuck between two places that would both kill him in the end.  
  
Dethmold tilted its head at him and pursed its lips, and before anything else could happen Lambert gave in. He would reply, and he would even speak as slow as a whale like this human did. He needed Dethmold, so far the only one that spoke in a language he could understand, though the human spoke a very old dialect; one Lambert knew was spoken by their kind before they returned to the sea.  
  
_“They won-d’r…”_ Lambert gritted out with some difficulty as his bloated tongue refused to cooperate, making him feel even more like a slow-singing and unwieldy humpback, _“whet’r I’m… carry’ng… pa-ra-sites?”_ That actually stung, being accused like that; he wasn’t some filthy sun fish! Not even after all they’d put him through!  
  
But he’d been trapped in that wooden prison for so long.  
  
Well, he hadn’t felt any parasites latching on to him…  
  
But it’s not like he’d been paying attention. And he’d fallen ill so early on during the journey that he hadn’t had the energy to groom himself.  
  
Had there been something in the water? _Was _he carrying parasites!??  
  
Dethmold huffed a laugh before the human shook its head. _“No… Whether you are carrying spawn, young one.”  
_  
Lambert’s wing-fins trembled. This human had _no_ right calling him that, just because his colouring was dark green didn’t mean he was still the merling he looked to be, thank you very much!  
  
Dethmold’s fingers touched his chest and started wandering over his skin, down towards his swollen belly. _“Normally I would call them idiots, but there are strange creatures in the sea. It’s the male seahorse that carries young after all, and there exist hermaphrodite fish in which a male matures into a female, under the right circumstances.”_ The man pressed its gnarly fingers against his belly.  
  
Lambert hissed quietly. The probing hurt, could they just… _please_… stop poking him?  
  
_“They tell me you’ve bloated up terribly; ever since they changed half of the water in your little home, when you were at the Gwenllech.”_ Dethmold snorted. _“They’re clearly no experts on your kind, but no matter. At least I’m glad that they called for me in time, though just barely.”_ The human stood up and pointed its staff towards grey-hair. Then a blue light came from the staff and hit the human pack leader, making it scream as the creature caught aflame and burnt to ashes in the span of a few seconds. The half-giants, though startled, didn’t let go of him, and the runt screamed before it made gagging noises, and Lambert’s nose scrunched up at the smell wafting down towards him.  
  
He held his breath, too afraid to move. This sickly looking human was a sorcerer, a mage, and the way it had just turned grey-hair into a pile of ash meant it was ruthless and considered the humans worthless, beneath itself.  
  
Smiling, clearly pleased with itself, Dethmold turned towards the water. The human’s staff lighted up again, sending a colourful shockwave over the pond.  
  
_“What… did you… do?”_ Lambert asked, confused at the smell coming from the water’s direction.  
  
Shrugging, Dethmold set its staff down and walked closer to him until the creature was looming over him, a very crooked and unpleasant smile on its gnarly face. The mage looked at one of the humans holding him and barked something in that harsh language they spoke.  
  
Finally, the humans let up, but Lambert didn’t dare to move. One wrong move… he had no idea what the mage would do if he antagonised it.  
  
Dethmold grasped the chain between his wrists and lovingly stroked over each of the linking parts, crooning as it did so.  
  
Lambert wanted to rip the chain out of the man’s hands, but he forced himself to stay still, observing the mage as he would a lion mane’s jellyfish. Weakly gasping for breath, Lambert looked up, into the squinty eyes.  
  
_“You are something valuable to our king, and these idiots put you in a fresh water pond. They should have known better. It’s safe now, this water…”_ Dethmold nodded towards the pond, _“I spelled it so that its salt content is like the sea. You’ll live to see the coming days.”_ The mage kept on stroking his chains and Lambert could hear the human’s heart beating faster. _“They were right to put these on you; after all, though your kind can survive on dry land for quite a while we wouldn’t want you to wander off and hurt yourself. It’s a large world out there and we are nowhere near any kind of water. It would be suicide to try and escape.”  
_  
Snorting, Lambert refrained from spitting in the mage’s face. _“Be-lieve you…”_ Mer, but it was getting increasingly difficult to speak. _“Right. Not… goin’ any-where. So why… don’t you… take… these off?”_ He twitched his hands slightly for emphasis, his arms felt way too heavy to lift.  
  
Dethmold stopped stroking the metal links and a gnarly hand reached upwards, towards his face, and gently patted his cheek, keeping well away of his mouth. _“I don’t trust you not to wander off even despite this information, you are too valuable to die. King Henselt needs you…”_ a wry smile appeared on its thin lips, _“or at least, he needs some precious ingredients that can only be harvested from one of your kind.”  
_  
Lambert felt his eyebrows creep up his forehead and panic twisted his insides. _“In-gredients!?”_ He exclaimed, trying to suppress the tremor in his voice.  
  
Dethmold shrugged. _“It was either one of your kind, or a kayran, and let me not even get started on the difficulties of catching one of those beasts, let alone finding one of them in these times. No, for our purpose one of the merfolk is a much safer bet.”_  
  
Bristling, Lambert wriggled around, free to move now that the other humans had released their hold, and Dethmold allowed him to, stepping away. Immediately, Lambert tried to get as far away as he could, his tail hurting from the force as he gave all the energy he still had to boost himself forwards. He needed to get out… he needed to get away from here!  
  
It was useless. He’d known it was useless, but blind panic overran his mind and _he_ _needed to get out!  
_  
His body jerked awkwardly and twisted back as the long chain that anchored his wrists to the heavy ball was harshly pulled. Looking back, he noticed Dethmold drawing on the chain, pulling it taut.  
  
He was trapped, pinned to the ground and being reeled in like a fish on a hook.  
  
Closing his eyes, Lambert tried to swallow, but his bloated and dry tongue wouldn’t cooperate, so he did the only thing he could. He collapsed. Gave up fighting.  
  
_Sorry, Vesemir.  
_  
He felt like crying, but he wouldn’t show this human that it had won. His only consolation was that at least Eskel was safe, back in Ys.  
  
_“Now now,”_ Dethmold tutted as it stopped pulling on the chain and instead moved towards him until the human was looming right above him. _“You have nothing to fear. Once the king has returned it will be just a little snip; after all, the potion requires fresh ingredients, and then you’re free to go.”_ The mage spoke like it wanted to convey comfort and reassurance, but Lambert felt more like the creature was playing a sick game with him.  
  
Lambert felt his hackles rising and he didn’t believe for one moment that he’d be free to go after this. _“A snip?”_ He hissed, feeling his heart pounding loudly in his chest.  
  
Dethmold crouched down next to him and the look on the ugly face was warning enough not to try anything as the mage reached beneath his pelvic fins. _“Just one snip, then I’ll cauterise the area, and you’re free to go.”_  
  
Lambert’s tail twitched and he felt weird all over, like he’d stayed out of the water for too long, but instead of drying out there was a cold layer of moisture clinging all over him. This man intended to take his claspers?   
  
_“Why?”_ Lambert whined, disappointed in himself at how his question came out.  
  
Dethmold raised an eyebrow and the look in the creature’s dark and beady eyes turned fond. The tip of the mage’s tongue appeared from its mouth, and for a moment Lambert feared the human would bring its thin and dry human lips closer to him. He had no interest whatsoever in the human’s advances, and, just to warn Dethmold off, Lambert let his fangs show and rattled his wing-fins, though he knew his display was nowhere as threatening as he’d intended. He hissed warningly at the human, but barely a wheeze escaped from his dry throat…  
  
Amusement twinkled in those horrible eyes and the mage looked away, saying something to the humans.  
  
Before Lambert could react, one of the half-giants took the chain from Dethmold and started pulling, while two other humans started pushing from behind, and he was half dragged, half pushed back into the pond. _Again_.  
  
Relief. Oh, sweet Melusine, he could breathe again and the water felt normal. Shuddering with relief, Lambert let himself sink a bit lower, revelling at the wonderful feeling. His eyes closed in pure bliss.  
  
_“You should rest.”_ Dethmold’s voice made him open his eyes again and swim up to the surface, and he saw the pleased look in the mage’s eyes. _“Please forgive me, if magic didn’t interfere with the quality of the ingredients I would heal you immediately from your injuries and ill health, but as it stands, some proper rest and food will have to suffice. I’ll make sure to have something brought to you at regular intervals until our king has arrived. Now,” _the mage waved the other humans back a bit and ducked down, so it could better see him from where he was in the water, _“uncle Dethmold will cast a tiny spell on your new home.”_ The mage waved its hand in the air. _“**Ver’sah anemo!”**_  
  
Another shockwave was sent over the pond.  
  
This time Lambert could see an oddly blue glow emerging from the water’s edge, reaching up into the sky and curving downwards, towards the other side. He frowned, not liking the feel coming off the glowing dome. He wanted to reach out for the blue magic, just to see if it was an illusion or an actual barrier, but Vesemir had taught him better than that.  
  
Apparently the half-giant with the skull and bones necklace didn’t have anyone teaching it better, for the human reached up and touched the barrier, immediately hissing in pain as it drew back its, now blistered, hand.  
  
Well, that answered that question.  
  
Lambert hated himself for what he did next. _“Could you…”_ he slowed down, remembering that the mage spoke like a whale, _“could you give me some space on land?”_ He gritted his teeth, really, _really _hating himself for asking for any kind of favour from his captors.  
  
Surprise bloomed on that awful wrinkly face and Dethmold’s grin revealed the creature’s crooked teeth. _“Now why would I do such a thing? You’re a merman, after all, you should be like a fish in the water.” _An evil gleam appeared in those beady eyes then. _“Are the tales true then? Young merlings need to come up on land and soak up the sun’s heat?”  
_  
Lambert could feel the blush creeping up his face and down to his neck, and he just _knew_ his skin had turned a darker shade of green. He wanted to hug his arms around his sides, but the way his hands were cuffed made them jerk to a halt the moment he tried; he couldn’t reach. Feeling panic creeping up on him, Lambert let his wing-fins curl up, covering part of his tail and belly in a hug.  
  
Swallowing heavily, he nodded.  
  
Dethmold mumbled something in that harsh language and the mage had a very pleased look on its face as it tapped its staff once. The human looked almost eager, but for what, Lambert had no idea.  
  
Lambert saw the edges of the barrier move a full tail’s length outwards; he’d be able to reach that small piece of land now.  
  
_“Rest and recover, merling,”_ Dethmold crooned quietly, _“you’ll need to be in perfect shape when the king arrives.”  
_  
Lambert watched as the mage walked away, not even sparing a backwards glance. Feeling an unpleasant tingling in his belly, the elvers wriggling about no doubt, he sank down into the water until he was fully submerged, trying very hard not to freak out.  
  
Not once had Dethmold asked him what his name was.  
  
Shivering, Lambert closed his eyes tightly and breathed in deeply. In… and out. And again…  
  
~*~  
  
Lambert didn’t know how long he’d been meditating, but he was startled out of his breathing exercises when something light bumped into his tail. Something small was currently frantically fluttering, hitting up against him again and again.  
  
Curious, he opened his eyes and looked down, seeing a golden fish twitching furiously. The creature looked ill and was all shrivelled up, clearly having difficulties swimming and breathing.  
  
That’s when a pang of horror shot through him and Lambert hurriedly swam around in his watery prison, noticing that _all_ the fish looked ill and were twitching, and some of the smaller ones lay unnaturally still.  
  
Of course, his fellow prisoners were fresh water fish and now…  
  
Closing his eyes, Lambert breathed out harshly, feeling his body trembling madly, and he swam up to the surface and dragged himself out of the water as far as his chains and the barrier would allow.  
  
He looked up, seeing the dark sky above and the stars twinkling down on him.  
  
Wherever he was, the cold of winter had settled in the land already and Lambert was freezing his scales off. _This _is why he and his brothers travelled to Caer a’Muirehen every year, to escape the cold of the north.  
  
Another shudder ran through him and Lambert stared at the pond in horror.  
  
_All those fish…  
_  
His breathing sped up and he tried to breathe just a bit deeper, but no matter how deeply he inhaled, he wasn’t getting enough air.  
  
Dethmold… what a sick, ploughing bastard!  
  
Shuddering, Lambert reached up and tried to furiously rub at his arms to feel warmer, but his bindings jerked him to a halt the moment he tried, the chain between his cuffs was simply too short.  
  
Shivering, Lambert rolled over until he lay down on his side, and he curled up as tight as he could, tucking his tail under his chin. He reached for his caudal fin and started rubbing the fingers of his left hand over one of the ridges; a silly little comfort left over from his younger days.  
  
He rubbed his cheek against the land-grass, refusing to let his tears spill, but he was so afraid, and _furious_ at his own behaviour at the same time. He was _not _a frigging merling!  
  
Still, he held on to his caudal fin and kept up his soothing motion, focusing on the feel underneath his fingers as he tried to calm his breathing.  
  
He didn’t know how long he lay there before he finally felt a bit calmer, but no one had come near. Apparently with the barrier up the human pack hadn’t felt a need to watch over him. Perhaps even, seeing what had happened to grey-hair, the humans had been wise enough to flee from this place. Lambert hoped they weren’t wise, though, and that Dethmold would come and repeat what it had done to grey-hair.  
  
Wherever they were, tonight Lambert was all alone.  
  
At least no one would see him crying like a little merling.  
  
Sniffing, he rubbed at his eyes. It wasn’t fair. He’d been captured and brought on land and he’d admitted to Dethmold that he believed it when the mage told him he had nowhere to go. He’d die if he managed to leave his new prison, and if it wasn’t the dry air that would do him in it would be the land-dwelling creatures prowling about. To add insult to injury; with the magical barrier there was no reason to keep him chained up like a savage, so Dethmold’s earlier worry about him wandering off were all void. Besides, if he really wanted to kill himself there were easier ways to go about it than suffocating on dry land; he did have his claws still, after all.  
  
Shuddering, Lambert curled up even tighter, resting his head on his tail and letting the caudal fin twist up from behind his head until it partly covered his neck and chest. With trembling fingers he reached for his fin, rubbing along the soft ridge again.  
  
He knew he would have to get back in the water pretty soon; he was nowhere near recovered from his many days of abuse, and with the way he felt he feared it would be many days before he was back to full health. Maybe even weeks.  
  
Gazing back at the water, Lambert was overcome with guilt. It was his fault those fish were dying. It wouldn’t be long before the pond had turned into a mass grave.  
  
He’d be sure to collect all the corpses and push them out of the water, out of sight.  
  
Closing his eyes, Lambert sorrowfully shook his head, seeing shrivelled fish corpses bumping into him with every breath he took.  
  
Keening lowly in his throat, Lambert rubbed his cheek harshly against the earth.  
  
He wanted Eskel…


	2. Just another contract?

Eskel was freaking out.  
  
He and Lambert had been curled up on their favourite spot of blood moss, laughing at the faces of those silly pearl divers, and the next thing he knew his brother’s wing-fins had flared and he’d been shoved off the rocky outcrop. Not expecting the sudden move, he’d clipped his head on the way down and then darkness had stolen his vision.  
  
Dazed, his head had throbbed something mighty and he’d been dragged along on the current. When he’d finally managed to compose himself he’d hurried to the surface, glad to still see the protruding edges of the Dragon Fangs and the city of Bremervoord a bit farther away.  
  
He’d rushed back, wondering what had happened, but then the cries of a _very _familiar merling had reached his ears, coming from one of the small sailboats on the water. Eskel had tried to swim faster, giving it all he had, and then Lambert’s screeching had suddenly stopped and it was frightfully silent.  
  
He’d pressed his arms close to his body as he’d kicked the water with his tail, pushing himself forward with a speed he’d only obtained once before.  
  
In the end, it hadn’t been enough.  
  
Eskel had been forced to watch as the humans hoisted Lambert out of the boat and started carrying him towards one of those carts that the sapient land-dwellers favoured. He’d been so close, close enough to see the merling’s dark green colours as the netting trapping him was untangled from around his body.  
_  
_Then the humans had tossed Lambert in a wooden box that stood on the cart and had ridden off…  
  
And now Eskel was freaking out. He had no idea how this mess would be solved, but of one thing he was sure: he refused to give up on Lambert.  
  
All right. He needed to stay focused for this, panicking would get him nowhere.  
  
Vesemir’s voice spoke in his head, an old memory. _One of the first things you do while tackling a contract is to interrogate the witnesses and inspect the scene. _  
  
Eskel snorted. Of course; treat this like any other contract, why shouldn’t he?  
  
_Because he’s our little brother, that’s why!_ Another voice stated in his mind, sounding a lot like Gwynbleidd.  
  
Shaking his head, Eskel swam over to the boat. A quick look around revealed several humans in his sight, but their backs were to him as they headed under one of the city’s many arches. Good.  
  
Feeling confident that he wouldn’t be spotted, and even if he did it would be by one of the city’s inhabitants who’d grown quite used to their kind, Eskel gripped the wooden hull, and it was with only some minor difficulties that he managed to drag himself up and over one of the sides. He had to find out who took Lambert. This was a scene, a contract. He could do this.  
  
_Freaking-out witness claiming he saw humans abducting his little merling.  
_  
Eskel huffed and the scars on his cheek twinged as a smile tugged at his lips. Lambert would always hiss and flare his wing-fins at anyone that dared to call him a merling, but that’s what he would always be to him and Gwynbleidd, no matter how old he got; after all, they’d basically raised him. And now he was a capable warrior, and age-wise he was considered a young adult, but Lambert’s dark colourations revealed that, physically, he was still at that awkward in-between state, between merling and merman.  
  
_Focus! Search for clues!_  
  
Examining the boat, Eskel quickly spotted some kind of broken weapon and he carefully moved to pick it up. The weapon looked to be a mix between a harpoon and some kind of bow, and there was a symbol painted in the middle, resembling a kelpie with red hooves and a red horn, similar to a narwhal, prancing on a field of yellow.  
  
He didn’t recognise it, but Eskel thought it highly probable that it was one of those signs humans used to mark their territories; everyone in Ys was familiar with the white escallops on a blue shield, after all.  
  
So likely the locals had nothing to do with Lambert’s abduction.  
  
Hissing under his breath, Eskel quickly searched the boat for any other clues. Whatever the weapon had fired, it wouldn’t have hit Lambert, or else the interior of the boat would be doused in his brother’s blood, instead of a few flecks here and there. But that still meant that he was injured, just how badly?  
  
_Not freaking out here, out on a contract, remember?  
_  
Breathing in deeply, Eskel then slowly expelled the air in his lungs.  
  
The merling was wounded, but so far the full extent was unknown. The small flecks of blood could have come from scales ripping off, taking some of the sensitive flesh they covered with it, and they could have come from wounds suffered as the youngster fell from his rocky perch.  
  
That’s when he spotted the shell, a very _familiar _looking shell, and he picked it up, the rest of the necklace trailing behind, and he was glad to note that besides a small chip along the shell’s edge only the metal clasp was busted. Gritting his teeth, Eskel wrapped what remained of the thin cord around his wrist, knotting it single-handedly. Lambert would want this back…  
  
Looking behind him, towards the land, Eskel made sure no one was there to spot what he’d do next. He leaned over the boat and pulled himself onto the dock. Feeling like a hermit crab without a shell, he awkwardly curled his tail beneath him and pushed, crawling along the dock, all the way to where it ended and a sandy road began.  
  
Breathing in deeply, Eskel shuddered as he took in the various smells: sweaty humans, strong perfumes, straw and filth and _there… _blood. When he reached the location where the cart had stood earlier he could easily spot the heavy track marks that had been left behind in the dirt. Frowning, he noticed the darker colouration compared to the rest of the road, and, touching his fingers to the darker sand, he deduced that water had been spilled here, and quite a lot.  
  
So the abduction had been planned. The box that had stood on the cart must have been filled with water beforehand, ready for its prisoner.  
  
There was a delighted shout coming from above, a high pitch, and when Eskel looked up he saw a human female with her hands clapped in front of her chest, eagerly looking in his direction.  
  
Shuddering his wing-fins and pushing himself up as high as his tail could carry him, Eskel changed into his alternate shape and started clicking, hoping she understood his message.  
  
She did, and she didn’t even scream, just released a small squeak as she cupped a hand over her mouth before picking up her skirts and hurrying back into the city.  
  
Eskel let himself drop to the floor. He wasn’t safe here, and, besides, he’d learnt all he could here on land. There was only one place he needed to check before he needed to figure out how to go about this…  
  
Dragging himself back towards the water, Eskel panted at the harrowing exercise. Vesemir could never _ever _find out that he’d gone so far up on land, crawling unprotected into human territory to search for potential evidence; the old fish would skin his tail.  
  
_Investigate all locations involved, be thorough, you can easily miss a clue that could save someone’s life. _Vesemir’s voice droned in his memory.  
_  
_Turning his head, Eskel easily spotted the rock they’d been curled up on moments earlier, and with a small push he rolled himself off the dock, plunging back into the water.   
  
When he reached the bottom of the rocky outcrop, Eskel looped the broken weapon over his arm and started the familiar climb. Once on top he was glad to note that there was nowhere near as much of blood as there would have been if Lambert had been skewered by a harpoon, but still, there _was _more of his blood, and when he looked closer he saw some dark scales lying on a patch of moss. Picking them up, Eskel knew what he was going to do.  
  
Visit the local witch.  
  
Ys was a small city, and people talked, so Eskel knew that the local witch was a mermaid called Keira, and that she lived a little beyond Ys’ borders. She was friendly enough, and the way the stories told it Sh'eenaz had gone to her to obtain her legs, and there had been no such silly nonsense as giving up any part of herself besides replacing her tail for a pair of legs.  
  
Eskel wondered how Sh’eenaz had repaid the witch for that favour, and he wondered what it would cost _him _if he asked the same. He needed to go on land, but he needed legs, and he needed to hunt down those humans and retrieve his merling, but he needed to know where they were taking him.  
  
His eyes drifted over towards the city of Bremervoord, in the direction the cart had gone, and then he jumped back in the water and started swimming as fast as he could.  
  
The witch would be able to help.  
  
~*~  
  
It had taken a bit of searching, but while in Ys Eskel had overheard two mermaids talking, something about an unfaithful husband, and with the advice one had given the other he’d managed to find the cave that the witch supposedly lived in.  
  
Eskel stilled, hovering right before the witch’ home; he hadn’t known what to expect, but flourishing coral reefs ranging from colours blue to orange and small fish swimming near the cave, that had been decorated with glowing moss, lighting up the place, wasn’t it.  
  
Clutching Lambert’s scales and the weapon that had been used against him to his chest, Eskel desperately hoped that the witch would listen to his plea. Bracing himself, he called out, taking care not be so loud as to be rude. _“Witch Keira? Please, I have come to seek your aid, will you hear my plight?”  
_  
A blue-spotted ray scurried out of its hiding place and quickly swam away, burying itself in a patch of light sand nearby.  
  
_“Witch Keira? Are you there?”_ Eskel held his breath, deciding that if the witch didn’t answer in the next few moments he would go in and try to figure out where she was.  
  
_“Who calls for my aid? Speak, stranger!”_ A mermaid with light-green hair and pale-green skin swam up to him, a bored look on her face.  
  
Eskel blinked, deducing from the mermaid’s light colourations that she must be well over a century, though if her colouring had been just a bit darker he could have easily mistaken her for someone barely out of her tweens.  
  
_“My name is Eskel,”_ he introduced himself, _“and I need your aid.”_  
  
The mermaid waved her hand. _“Yes yes, what is it? Sea urchins messing up your garden, or jellyfish making pests of themselves? Or perhaps a potion for your-”_ The witch blinked as she stared at his necklace and a frown appeared on her face as she took in the way he clutched at the items in his hands. _“Forget that, I see you’re not one of those who would idly waste my time. Follow me.”_ She went back into the cave, curling her fingers at him.  
  
Touching the large necklace that hung from his neck, Eskel knew from the witch’ reactions that she knew what it meant. Curious, not many did.  
  
Entering the cave, Eskel was pleasantly surprised to see it was like any other merfolk home. There was a little area obviously meant for cooking and along one of the far corners he could make out a nest of kelp. More of the glowing moss had been placed inside, giving the place a soothing glow. The only things that would have been off in a regular home was the skull of what looked to be a reef shark and some large coloured fish bones with runes carved into them. Otherwise, perfectly normal home…  
  
_“Welcome, Eskel,”_ the witch spoke, swirling her arms out towards the cave, _“welcome to my humble abode. As you surmised, I am the witch you seek, but please, call me Keira.”_ She swam deeper into the cave. _“Come now, warrior, tell me what you need.”  
_  
Blinking, Eskel followed her. _“A fellow warrior, Lambert, was abducted by humans several hours ago.”_ He held out the broken weapon to her, tapping the painted image with his finger. _“This is what they used against him, and I need help deciphering the clues – figure out where they took him, and I need legs so I can go on land.”_ He opened up his palm, revealing a few of Lambert’s scales.  
  
Keira reached out, her fingers hovering over one of the scales, but she didn’t touch it. _“He’s just a merling,”_ she breathed, looking up at him with curious eyes.  
  
Snorting, Eskel closed his hand over the scales. _“He’s entered his tweens half a year ago.”_  
  
The witch nodded and bent over the broken weapon, holding her white pearl necklace to her breast so it wouldn’t clatter against the wood. With her free hand she carefully touched the image of the kelpie-like creature and the mermaid’s eyes narrowed in thought. _“Time is of the essence,”_ she mused quietly, _“a young one’s life is at stake.”  
_  
Clenching his jaw, Eskel closed his eyes and nodded. _“I’ll give you whatever you ask.”_  
  
A light touch ghosted over his cheek, and he opened his eyes, meeting Keira’s intense gaze. _“Good. In essence you are requesting three favours of me, so I’ll ask for three in return.”  
_  
Eskel became aware of his heart beating wildly in his chest. _“Three favours?”_ Did she mean before she’d even consider to help him, or after? And was it in payment of providing aid of any kind, or-  
  
Keira pressed her hand against his chest. _“Stop thinking so loud, Eskel. Our first priority shall be Lambert, and when he’s safely returned I shall ask you to fulfil the favours. I promise I’m not asking you to murder anyone for me.”  
_  
Sighing, Eskel’s shoulder’s sagged. _Our _priority, she’d said; Keira was going to help him get Lambert back safe and sound. His eyes burned and he blinked furiously several times, willing the stinging feeling to go away.  
  
Keira curled up near a low table and patted the floor of the rocky cave, inviting him to curl up next to her. _“Now, we have several hurdles to tackle. I can perform hydromancy to determine more about Lambert’s state, but unless the humans have already arrived at their destination this will not be useful.” _She tapped the broken weapon. _“**This** will not aid you in finding Lambert either, not really. The emblem painted on the wood represents Kaedwen, the largest of the Northern Kingdoms. You’ll need an oneiromancer to obtain a useful clue.”_  
  
Frowning, Eskel cocked his head. An oneiromancer… he knew the term, it was someone that divined dreams, but he’d never encountered one before. _“Are you one?”_  
  
The mermaid shook her head. _“No, but I know a land-dweller who is, and her location is but several leagues north of here. Corinne Tilly is her name, and she lives in Novigrad.”_  
  
Eskel felt a bit like the ray he’d seen earlier, only one that had buried itself under too much sand, preventing him from breathing. The task before him felt overwhelming; how was he even going to _find _Novigrad, let alone Corinne Tilly? His mouth opened and closed several times, but he’d forgotten how to speak.  
  
Keira rolled her eyes and swam up closer, wrapping her arms around him. _“You warriors can be such idiots sometimes,”_ she spoke into his hair. _“I said I’d help, didn’t I? And I’ll have you know that I’m a witch of my word.”  
_  
Eskel nodded slowly, a bit surprised that Keira was still hugging him. People didn’t hug him, people didn’t willingly touch him, besides his brothers and Vesemir…  
  
_“What kind of help would it be if I just gave you legs and let you wander the land all your own? I’ve visited several land-dweller’s cities, I’m familiar with their customs…”_ She drew back then, so she could look him in the eyes. _“That means, Eskel, that I shall be coming with you.”  
_  
Eskel shuddered with relief, and this time he didn’t do anything to stop the tears falling from his eyes.  
  
_“Need to safe-keep my future investments, after all. My, three favours from a **warrior**!”_ Keira finished, though the way she said it and the way her hand gently stroked his shoulder let him know she was jesting.  
  
~*~  
  
His _legs _didn’t even wobble as he rose up from the shallow water and stepped on land. Keira walked up behind him, and it was odd seeing her hair being all pale and her skin pink like a human’s. Eskel lifted a hand in front of his face, wondering at his slightly darker colour, but pleased to note that he could still see clearly under the night sky; at least that hadn’t changed.  
  
Talking about change… Looking down, Eskel felt extremely vulnerable, seeing his claspers transformed and completely visible; no fins or skin flap protecting his sensitive organs…  
  
“Welcome to Novigrad,” Keira spoke quietly, waving her hands in the air and muttering something that sounded only slightly familiar. Two little balls of light appeared, and while one started circling around Keira’s feet the other moved towards him and when it had reached his own feet the two little balls puffed upwards and both of them were dressed in human garb.  
  
The blue dress Keira wore had a deep plunging neckline and Eskel wondered at the practicality of that, after all, weren’t land-dwellers afraid of naked flesh? What if the humans saw her breasts? And her feet were covered in what looked to be snake-skin shoes.  
  
Blinking, he examined his own clothes, taking in the dark leather covering his legs (at least he felt a bit more protected) and the black boots on his feet. He wore a red and black long-sleeved shirt and, noticing it had pockets, he put the scales he’d still been holding onto inside one of them. Reaching inside his collar, he brought up his necklace, letting it fall over his shirt, on proud display. Lambert’s necklace was still around his wrist.  
  
“We need to find an inn called the Golden Sturgeon,” Keira told him, pointing at something behind him, “we just need to cross this bridge, turn left, and keep following the water. It’s not too long of a walk from here.”  
  
Turning, Eskel saw a stone bridge connecting the one piece of the land to another. A signpost nearby informed him that they were at the Southern Gate and _how could he read that sign post? _The writing on it looked nothing like he was familiar with!_  
  
_Seeing his look, Keira lifted her eyebrows and tilted her head up at him. “What is it, Eskel?”  
  
“I can read that sign.” Eskel walked over to it and pointed, trailing the foreign lettering.  
  
Keira released a huff of air and she waved a hand at him. “Yes yes, reading, talking and walking… it all comes with the ‘let’s become a human’ package. Can’t communicate with the locals if you don’t speak their language, now can you? For your reference, you’re speaking the Common Tongue now. I thought it prudent to make that little adjustment; wouldn’t want to draw any unwanted attention…”  
  
He shouldn’t have been surprised actually; after all, Sh’eenaz had been able to finally talk to her beloved in the human’s own language after she’d been transformed. “So how does this work? When we meet up with Lambert, will I be able to talk normally with him?”  
  
Keira glared at him. “Of course, I’m not some bumbling human sorceress, I’m a _witch_, Eskel. You just have to _will_ talking to him and you’ll be able to. Now let’s stop wasting time!” She started walking over the bridge, towards two humans that seemed to be guarding the gate.  
  
Hurrying after her, Eskel let her do the talking as the humans asked her where they were going this time of night. A short reply of “To the Golden Sturgeon for a drink and some entertainment” seemed to be enough to convince the guards to let them pass and then they were inside the city.  
  
Eskel marvelled at how similar a land-dweller’s city was to the underwater cities. There were stalls lining the streets, and though there were no merchants this time of day there were still some crates about with fish in some, and some kind of meat in others. Scrunching his nose, he looked to their left, seeing barrels, more food and fish-netting heaped in a pile.  
  
There were some humans on the streets, staggering about drunkenly, while others huddled around fires. It wasn’t just humans though, there were smaller creatures walking around as well, and Eskel recognised them as dwarves and halflings. He’d never seen them this close up before. He had to blink twice as he spotted human females in scarce dress, revealing even more skin than Keira did, dancing and crooning lewd words at passing males.  
  
As they were following along the water’s edge, several small hairy animals crossed the road, squeaking loudly as one followed the other. They had beady eyes, hairless tails and long teeth stuck out of their mouths.  
  
“Uggggh!!” Keira screamed, hunching in on herself and covering her ears. “Eskel, do something!”  
  
Wincing at the loud scream, Eskel looked at the crawling animals. He didn’t think that they looked all that scary, and he wondered what damage they even could do, them being so small. “Stay calm. They’re not attacking, just seem to be passing through.”  
  
“They are _rats_, Eskel! I _hate_ rats!” The witch gritted out. “Disgusting!”  
  
Reaching for Keira’s elbow, Eskel gently pulled her along. “Come on, let’s calmly walk away from them, it’s all right…” When the squeaking animals were well behind them Eskel stopped and turned towards Keira, lifting an eyebrow at her, incredulously. “Couldn’t you have annihilated them with just one spell?”  
  
Keira glared, letting go of her ears.  
  
That did make him wonder about something… Testing whether his hands would transform into claws, Eskel was disappointed that they stayed the same shape; a human’s hands. He felt naked. “A sword or spear wouldn’t be amiss. Got a feeling that we’re gonna run into trouble sooner or later.”  
  
Huffing, Keira started walking. When she rounded a dark bend she looked around and wiggled her fingers, and a moment later Eskel felt a weight on his back and a baldric was crossing his chest. Reaching over his shoulder, he unsheathed the weapon and held it in front of him, taking in the glint of the metal and the runes inscribed on the blade. It resembled a warrior’s blade and he was impressed at feeling how well-balanced it was. Pleased, he sheathed it and hurried to Keira’s side.  
  
A few minutes later Keira pointed to a wooden building with a sign post in the shape of a sturgeon. “Corinne rents a room here, has done for several years already. We need to pass through the tavern and go upstairs to her room. Be prepared for loud merrymaking and drunk people.”  
  
Steeling himself, Eskel followed her inside.  
  
It was loud, and had he still been in his normal form Eskel just knew that the noise would have been deafening. As it was, it was loud, but manageable. There was some sort of area right next to the entrance, and people were dancing on it, playing instruments that Eskel had never seen before in his life. Shrilly whistles rose from small wooden tubes with holes in them and dull thumps sounded from a large hoop with a skin strapped over it. A female was playing a wooden instrument with some kind of threads on it, and the melodious notes as the woman plucked them drew his attention.  
  
Large skins of some type of hairy animal covered parts of the floor, and smaller skins had been strung along the stone wall. The air smelled odd, salty and muffled and there was something Eskel vaguely remembered having smelled once when he’d strayed too close to Ard Skellig’s shores.  
  
“Upstairs.” Keira headed towards the back of the tavern.  
  
Following her, Eskel got a closer look at the humans and the ways they entertained themselves. Some people were rolling marked pebbles onto a board, while others were staring at small painted cards, placing them down on the table in some kind of pattern. He’d have been more interested in what they were doing if his heart wasn’t being nibbled on by the beak of a squid.  
  
The sun had just been entering the water when Lambert had been taken, and now the moon was well on her way through the night sky. Was his brother even still alive?  
  
They walked up some stairs, and then Keira turned left and right before coming to a still in front of a closed door. “This is the place.”  
  
Nodding, Eskel walked up to the door and rapped his knuckles against the wood.  
  
“Corinne?” Keira called. “Please open up, we need your help.”  
  
A rumbling came from inside the room and after a few breaths the door was pulled open, revealing a still half-asleep woman, with brown hair and light skin. “Keira?”  
  
Keira nodded. “Corinne, we need your help. A life is at stake, will you dream for us?”  
  
Blinking widely, the woman visibly forced herself to be more awake and she straightened up and gestured for them to come inside. “Come in, you know I will. Tell me more. First of all, who’s your friend?”  
  
Taking in her appearance, Eskel had to take back his earlier thought on humans being afraid of naked skin. Perhaps he was missing something here?  
  
“This is Eskel, and he’s like me,” Keira told her. “From the sea.” Seeing his startled look she held up a hand. “Corinne can be trusted, Eskel. And besides, for this all to work, truth is essential.”  
  
Corinne nodded thoughtfully as she looked him up and down. “First time on land?”  
  
“Yes,” Eskel croaked.  
  
Corinne looked at him with a kind smile. “What happened?”  
  
Eskel tried to swallow around the lump in his throat and told her his story, feeling restless as he finished his tale. “You’re an oneiromancer, how can you help? How does this all work?”  
  
Shrugging, the woman held out her hand and he reached for it, allowing Corinne to pull him over towards an odd-looking nest. She lightly pushed his shoulders until he sat down. “We must first achieve a kind of mental accord. I must ask some questions, you must answer them. It’s important you’re truthful, and speak from your heart. I must gain an understanding of the bond between the person and the object, so I ask questions; try to flesh out feelings, emotions.”  
  
Tapping a finger on the soft material beneath him, Eskel huffed. “So you will dream and help me find Lambert?”  
  
Corinne shook her head. “I won’t be the one dreaming, you will; my gift lies in summoning the right dreams for you. At times, nightmares or strong desires impose themselves on true events and it takes skill to separate seed from chaff.”  
  
Eskel frowned; he had no idea what chaff was. “Can we begin?” He noticed Keira sitting down at a low table, observing the pair of them silently. He’d only known her for several hours, but he felt that he could trust her; he was sure that she’d look out for him while he dreamt.  
  
Corinne lay a hand on top of his and looked deeply into his eyes. “To start with, tell me a memory you have of Lambert. I need the strongest, most complete memory you have of him.”  
  
The most complete memory huh? At the oneiromancer’s words Eskel smiled, seeing it in his mind’s eye.  
  
“It was my birthday, just a few years after Lambert had been brought to Caer a’Muirehen. He must have been what, eleven perhaps? And it wasn’t even light out yet when the merfry swims into my room and starts bouncing around on my nest, singing very loud with his shrilly little voice: ‘Trout, trout, let them all out – come on Eskel, get up and about – come on, it’s your birthday today, oh jay!’” Eskel snorted. “Certainly had an imagination on him back then, and he was so proud!” Later Vesemir had told him how Lambert had been sniggering and grinning like a shark for days before that already, being secretively silly as merfry tended to get every now and then.  
  
There was a calm smile on Corinne’s face. “Anything else you would like me to know?”  
  
Fingering the chipped shell that was tied to his wrist, Eskel sighed wryly. “Gwynbleidd, Lambert and me, we’re brothers. Trained to be warriors of the School of the Wolf-Fish. And though it was Vesemir that brought Lambert to the keep, it was me and Gwynbleidd that practically raised him. He wanted nothing to do with Vesemir back then, always making trouble for the old fish, but Vesemir understood. Lambert had awful nightmares back in those days, from before his time with us, and more often than not I would wake up with him curled up underneath my arm. After a moon full of nightmares I expanded my nest and dragged the merfry over when it was time to hit the kelp. I’d expected him to make a fuss about it and insist on sleeping in his own nest, but he didn’t. That’s when the nightmares stopped.”  
  
Corinne nodded. “Is there more you like to tell me?”  
  
Eskel wanted to make her understand just who Lambert was, and the special connection they had; speak from the heart, she’d told him and he really wanted this dreaming to work. “Young merfolk… they have difficulties regulating their body temperature, so, except for those of us living in tropical climates, we carry our young to the surface to bask in the sun. Every day, either Gwynbleidd or me would push Lambert up to the water’s surface and ‘play otter’ when he was still a merfry, more black than green, and when he got older we’d take him to the best shallows we could find, where the water was nice and warm, or climb up with him on an outcrop. He adores curling up on blood moss, ever since he discovered it. Loves the heat it releases…”  
  
“Do you have any more memories you wish to share?” Corinne asked.  
  
He could spend an entire night telling stories of Lambert, but they should really get started. Eskel’s mind drifted to his last glimpse of his brother and the words came out of his mouth before he was aware he was speaking. “Lambert and I love chasing annoying pearl divers and we’d been merrymaking when all of a sudden he pushed me off the rock, protecting me.” He’d skipped over a lot of details earlier, explaining what had happened as briefly as possible. Shaking his head, Eskel sighed and looked down, towards his new legs. “I should have paid more attention to our surroundings, I’m supposed to look out for him…”  
  
Corinne touched his hand, a sad look on her face. “From what I hear you’ve been taking care of him for a great part of his life already, and you’ve been the one he went to for comfort. Lambert clearly feels very strongly about you.”  
  
Smiling wryly, Eskel shook his head._  
_  
Pulling away her hand, Corinne gestured at the nest. “All right then, I believe we can start. Please, lie down on the bed and try to relax. I’ll guide your dreams. Pay close attention to what you’ll see, and, if you need to, we can discuss what you see later and figure out the meaning of your dreams.”  
  
Hesitantly, Eskel lowered himself to the cloth nest, surprised at its softness. Turning his head, he noticed Keira had made herself comfortable on the floor and she gave him an encouraging smile, and Corinne had moved closer, sitting next to him on the nest and reaching for his hand again.  
  
Then he closed his eyes and tried to dream.  
  
*  
  
_A tiny green wolf-fish was swimming over colourful coral next to a larger, paler, wolf-fish.  
  
Shadows from above, and the little fish shoved the larger one just a moment before a heavy weight crashed down on it.  
  
Darkness. Guttural snarls…  
  
Stifling heat.  
  
The wolf-fish was picked up by gnarly fingers and put in a small bowl, which was placed on top of a high rock surrounded by black kelpies with red hooves and red horns…  
  
A strange bird was sitting atop a swirling metal pole, held upright by gnarly fingers. The pole gleamed, and then the small bowl was encased by a blue light.  
  
The tiny wolf-fish pressed itself flat along the bottom of the bowl, trembling.  
  
_*  
  
Gasping, Eskel sat up, reaching for the shell around his neck.  
  
A movement from the corner of his eyes alerted him that someone was getting closer, and, looking up, Eskel saw Keira standing up and moving towards him.  
  
“What did you see, Eskel?” Turning his head, Eskel noticed Corinne was still sitting beside him, her hands clasped in front of her, her head cocked.  
  
Blinking, feeling his heart racing in his chest, Eskel tried to calm down, sucking in large gulps of dry air and wasn’t it weird that he had no difficulty breathing up here on land? When he felt like he could speak again he told Corinne and Keira of his dream and when he’d finished he noticed Keira nodding, a thoughtful look on her face, while Corinne actually looked a bit puzzled.  
  
“The wolf-fish, one small, the other bigger… that’s Lambert and me,” Eskel told her, of that he was certain.  
  
“In your dream…” Keira mused, her brow furrowed. “He’s placed on a large rock…”  
  
“No,” Eskel interrupted, “a _high _rock.” He didn’t know why he bothered to correct Keira, but it felt important. “Surrounded by those black kelpies with the hooves and horns.”  
  
“High rock… Ard Carraigh,” Corinne’s soft voice floated towards him.  
  
Frowning, Eskel wondered why she was repeating herself.  
  
Corinne’s eyes shone with realisation and she hurried to explain. “Ard Carraigh is the capital of Kaedwen, in the Northern Kingdom, and it’s where king Henselt holds his seat of power. This would well be in line with the black unicorns you describe, that’s what those kelpies you describe are called, the unicorn being king Henselt’s emblem. And the fingers you describe, holding on to a metal pole with a bird on top… that whole scene screams magic to me, so, a mage. Now it just so happens that Dethmold serves as an advisor to king Henselt.”  
  
Eskel breathed in deeply, feeling lightheaded. Those were a lot of coincidences for it to be a coincidence.  
  
“I’ve heard of this city, but I have no idea as to its exact location.” Keira narrowed her eyes.  
  
Corinne stood up and walked over to a shelf, taking something down from it. “I can show you its location on a map.” She lay down what looked to be a very thin skin with colourful scribbles on it. “This is where we are now,” she pointed at the map, “and this is Ard Carraigh,” she tapped an icon on the right side of the map, drawn very close to what looked to be mountain ranges.  
  
“And this here is Bremervoord,” Keira pointed a little below Novigrad.  
  
“So we know where they’re taking him, can you portal us there?” Eskel asked, after all, the witch had created a portal earlier to get them here.  
  
Keira shook her head. “Unfortunately I can only portal to a place I’ve already been, to a location I’m familiar with. I fear we shall have to find some manner of transportation to get us there.” An uncomfortable look settled on her face. “And back… When we find Lambert I can’t portal all three of us at the same time and a quick trip back and forth is out of the question, I need to regain some energy before creating another portal, and knowing the situation that’s something that cannot be risked.”  
  
Eskel winced, looking down at the map and comparing the distances. A few leagues north, Keira had said earlier when she mentioned heading towards Novigrad, and if this map was true to scale that meant just exactly how long of travelling? _Too long._  
  
Corinne dragged her finger along a blue line. “The fastest way to travel is by river. Find a ship here in Novigrad which will be sailing over the Pontar, there’s always traffic going up and down to the east.” She tapped a spot on the map, thoughtfully. “You’ll have to travel some distance on land still, but Ard Carraigh is Kaedwen’s capital and is much visited by merchants and travellers; with some luck you’ll find someone who can lead you there, or at least give you further directions towards your goal…”  
  
“I’d prefer to be as less dependent on land-dwellers as possible,” Keira pondered, “but time is of the essence and we cannot afford to lose our way.”  
  
Corinne nodded and rolled up the map, handing it over to the witch. “There are always some sailors here in the Golden Sturgeon, perhaps you could ask around downstairs, or at the docks?”  
  
Keira took the map and put it in her pocket. “Thank you, Corinne, we much appreciate you helping us. It’s time we were on our way.” She nodded and slowly headed towards the door. “We shall find a way and secure our passage on a ship.”  
  
Eskel slowly stood up, feeling a bit surreal as he joined her. He nodded at Corinne. “Thanks.”  
  
The oneiromancer smiled wryly. “Good luck, I hope you find him in time…”  
  
~*~  
  
When they went downstairs Eskel looked at the patrons sitting around the tables. The seamen were easily recognisable by their bare upper bodies, that were more often than not marked with dark drawings, showing skulls and naked females, ships and anchors. The humans were of the same type as Eskel was used to back in Bremervoord, or the other places he’d travelled to.  
  
“Just gonna go up and ask,” Eskel told Keira, “gotta find a ship going east.”  
  
Keira nodded. “I’ll head downstairs and ask around, you take this lot.” And with that the sea witch disappeared down another set of stairs.  
  
Breathing in deeply, Eskel steeled himself for what he had to do next. He never was a big fan of going up to random strangers and talking to them; they often reacted badly to him, especially when seeing his scarred face. He walked towards a table with three half-naked humans, of which two were engaged in a game with the marked pebbles while the other one was observing, cheering for his companion sitting next to him after he’d thrown the pebbles onto a wooden board. “Three of a kind!”  
  
“Uhum,” Eskel rasped his throat.  
  
The human sitting alone on the bench hunched his shoulders and looked at him, narrowing his gaze. “Mug like a puss.”  
  
“Excuse me, excuse me,” a red-headed female came up from behind him. “What’s up, sourpuss?” She asked, picking up the mugs in front of the men, clearly empty, and replacing them with other ones from her tray.  
  
Eskel rolled his shoulders and reached for the strap of his baldric.  
  
“Whoa, stop flexing like that,” the cheering man called, “you’re making me nervous!”  
  
Eskel forced a smile on his face and held up his hands, palms outwards. “Looking for a ship. One that’ll take me and my friend east over the Pontar,” he said calmly.  
  
“Bea, what’s happened to this fine establishment?” The human who’d just thrown the pebbles asked, reaching for his new mug of _something_. “Just came ashore and people are already pissing me off.”  
  
Balling his fists, Eskel tried to stay calm. He needed information, information these land-dwellers could provide.  
  
There was a slight pull on his elbow and, looking to the left he spotted the red-headed female. “Come on, sourpuss,” she said quietly, “leave these good men alone before you start a brawl.”  
  
Frowning, Eskel turned his gaze back to the humans, who were all looking at him with wary eyes. They would be of no help, they were far too hostile already.  
  
Sighing, he allowed himself to be dragged away by the female. She gently pulled on his elbow and nodded her head towards the inn’s entrance, where a male in a bright blue shirt stood behind the counter. “Come,” she said and guided him over. Then she let him go and put her hands on her hips, looking up at him with a curious gaze. “Never seen eyes like yours before… yellow and slitted, like a puss.”  
  
Reaching up, Eskel let his hand drop just before he touched his eye. Were his eyes that odd? After all, in the sea all warriors had the same eyes as him. “They’re pretty normal where I’m from,” he hedged.  
  
The red-head lifted an eyebrow in disbelief. “And where are you from?” Seeing his look, she shook her head. “Never mind. My name’s Bea,” she introduced herself.  
  
“Eskel,” Eskel said automatically.  
  
Bea nodded towards the humans behind them. “First night ashore, they are, and a prickly lot. I’m sorry that I pulled you away from them, but there was a brawl the other night and my employer really hates it when he has to replace the furniture again. It gets expensive…”  
  
The man with the blue shirt nodded. “No brawling!”  
  
Thoughtfully, Eskel lowered his head. “I don’t seek trouble, just a means of transport. A ship, travelling east over the Pontar. It’s important…”  
  
Bea tilted her head. “Well, there are three ships currently moored at Novigrad’s docks. Captain Liglad… he’s trading up and down the Pontar, best bet would be with him.” Seeing his look, she shrugged. “I’m a barmaid, I hear a lot, and here at the Golden Sturgeon I hear nearly everything that’s going on at sea or near the docks. The other two ships are bound to go south, so yeah… you’d better talk with captain Liglad…”  
  
“Thanks.” Eskel looked over his shoulder. Keira had returned and from the way the witch was storming past she was clearly agitated.  
  
“Are you all right, miss?” Bea asked when Keira was close enough.  
  
“Fine… just fine,” Keira replied, patting her dress down, “I’d just forgotten how lewd and annoying drunken sailors can be.”  
  
A sympathetic look appeared in Bea’s eyes.  
  
Eskel nodded towards Bea. “Where can we find this Liglad?”  
  
“His is the second ship you’ll encounter if you head out this door, go left, and keep walking. Captain Liglad’s ship has been moored here for a week already, they’ll likely be ready to set sail again in a few days.”  
  
Eskel’s heart clenched. _A few days?_  
  
Keira looked back at the inn, her eyes narrowed. “Come morning we shall head for the docks. I’m certain this time of night the captain will not be there. Do you have a room available?”  
  
Eskel turned towards Keira, confused. They didn’t have any money, they couldn’t pay for a room or even food and drink. Couldn’t they just go up and ask to stay with Corinne Tilly for the night?  
  
Keira just shook her head and waved her hand at him. Reaching into one of the folds of her dress, she pulled out a small pouch and showed it to Bea. “We’d like room and board for one night, please.”  
  
Bea reached behind the counter and picked up a piece of paper, examining it for only a moment. “We’ve got one room available still; with food and drink for tonight that’ll be two crowns.”  
  
“Here,” Keira handed over two round metal pieces.  
  
Bea put away the piece of paper and picked up a metal key, then gestured for them to follow until they stood in front of a wooden door. She handed over the key to Keira. “Do you wish food and drink to be brought to you or will you be eating it out here?”  
  
Keira shook her head. “Brought in, please.”  
  
“Be right back,” and with that Bea left.  
  
Eskel cocked his head. “Why not stay with Corinne?”  
  
Keira smiled wryly. “She’s a friend, but I do not wish to impose upon her. She’s already helped us find a clue, a new direction, and I know her oneiromancy leaves her extremely exhausted afterwards. We’ll leave at the rise of dawn and I do not wish to disturb her any further.”  
  
Looking around, Eskel saw only one nest, no, _bed_. Well, that wouldn’t be a problem, merfolk often curled up together for comfort and safety and right now he definitely needed to feel not so alone… “Bea said the ship could leave in a few days…”  
  
Sighing, Keira walked up to him from behind, leaning her head against his shoulder and stroking his arm. “Depending on how many days, perhaps captain Liglad can be persuaded to leave a bit sooner than planned?” She lifted her hand, palm upwards, and a little ball of light appeared and started swirling in the air before fading out into nothing. She sighed. “Waiting’s always the hardest thing.”  
  
Eskel silently nodded, staring at the bed, wondering how Lambert was doing…  
  
~*~  
  
They’d left early the next day, towards what assumedly was captain Liglad’s ship.  
  
The few scantily clad females still about wiggled their hips and whistled at them as they passed, though most of them looked tired, dead on their feet. Drunken seamen and dockhands walked about still, singing bawdy songs and whistling high screeches when they noticed Keira. They didn’t respond well to Eskel though, keeping wary eyes on him and grumbling nasty things when they noticed his face.  
  
Two bald and burly humans leaned against a crate, right in front of Liglad’s ship. Eskel was amused at seeing the markings on one of the humans’ upper bodies: a couple of mermaids, though the proportions of their drawn breasts were just ridiculous. He snorted.  
  
“What do you want, land-rat?” The human with the mermaids grumbled, crossing his arms in front of his chest.  
  
Unbidden, a grin settled on Eskel’s face. “Captain Liglad,” he started, “this his ship?”  
  
The other human made an odd gurgling sound, coming from deep in his throat, before spitting onto the ground to his left, well away from them. Whatever it was, it looked and smelled horrible and Eskel really didn’t want to know what it was. Really. “Something slimy about you, to my mind,” he drawled.  
  
Shrugging, Eskel nodded towards the ship. “Takes one to know one.”  
  
Keira stepped in between them, an innocent look on her face as she twirled a string of her hair between her thumb and index finger, her other hand held behind her back. “We’re looking for the captain, good men. We’ve got a bargain for him he cannot refuse.” And though she smiled gently and her words were soft Eskel felt a shiver running through his body.  
  
Tapping his lip, the man with the mermaids grinned crookedly. “A bargain, well, Liglad’s sure to be interested, if what you say is true. Go on up! Captain Liglad!” He shouted. “Got company!”  
  
Taking care not to let the two humans out of his sight, Eskel followed Keira up a wooden board, onto the ship.  
  
“Company, you say?” A man with brown hair, dressed in a bright red tunic and light pants walked out of a cabin, looking a bit frazzled. A pair of glasses were perched on his nose. Seeing them, he stilled. “And who may you be?”  
  
Eskel took a step closer. “My name’s Eskel, and this here is Keira.” He waved a hand at the witch. “We seek passage, east over the Pontar. Heard your ship’s travelling east in a few days, we’d like to come with.”  
  
Taking his glasses from his nose and folding them so he could put them on a hook on his belt, Liglad examined the two of them closely. “I’m heading out in two days, me and my crew; up to Vergen for some trade.”  
  
Eskel nodded, remembering seeing the name on the map. “That’ll do.”  
  
“Two thousand crowns,” Liglad told them, “show up the day after tomorrow with two thousand crowns and you may sail with us. Will make sure you’ve got a place to sleep as well.”  
  
Two thousand crowns… that sounded like a lot. Eskel looked at Keira, but the witch didn’t look put-off, instead she smiled gently at the human. “You have our thanks, captain Liglad,” she told him, putting one hand behind her back and bowing a little. When she stood up, Eskel saw a little ball of light rising from the palm of her hand and sneakily swirl behind her as she turned around Liglad.  
  
The human didn’t notice as the little ball of light crawled up behind his back and pressed against him, disappearing, but Eskel surely did. Once it did, the man’s eyes turned a bit confused and he blinked a few times, rapidly.  
  
“Now that we’ve settled the bill, we shall return in time to travel east,” Keira told the man.  
  
“Glad to have you on board, ma’am,” Liglad said, inclining his head at her, “and you, good sir.” Then he walked back to the cabin he’d come from and disappeared from sight.  
  
Narrowing his gaze, Eskel looked back at Keira, lifting an eyebrow.  
  
“Just a little spell,” she assured him, “he’s fully convinced now that we already paid the fee.”  
  
Sighing, Eskel nodded. “Couldn’t have convinced him to set sail right away?”  
  
Keira shook her head. “Two days, while it’s sure to feel like a long time for you, is hardly anything. Besides, even if I’d told him to make ready to depart as soon as possible he’d have to get his entire crew here in time and convince them to set out earlier. In the end we’d not have gained any true time, but would have upset all of the crew, therefore I thought it wise not to meddle too much in the captain’s affairs.” Smiling wryly, she reached for his hand and squeezed it lightly. “Two days… then we’ll head out east.”  
  
~*~  
  
The next few days, Eskel had never felt so helpless in his entire life.  
  
He and Keira spent two days on land, exploring Novigrad and observing the land-dweller’s behaviours, and if it hadn’t been for that squid beak gnawing on his heart Eskel would have enjoyed the sightseeing and the new types of food they encountered.  
  
Finally, the morning of the second day came and the ship departed for the east.  
  
Eskel had to suffer through even more waiting and it was driving him crazy. It had been days of stalking around the ship, silently brooding, avoiding the humans as much as possible and staring at the horizon, seeking for something he would never be able to see.  
  
So many days… and he didn’t even know if Lambert was still alive.  
  
*  
  
He was glad when the ship finally moored near Vergen and he and Keira could leave. The ship’s crew was deftly preparing carts and loading crates and barrels on top of them, readying themselves to head out to the dwarven city.  
  
Captain Liglad had told them that if they waited for a horse-drawn cart they’d be quicker into the city than on foot, so they’d waited and when the first cart was ready Eskel and Keira had eagerly climbed on board, watching as the ship grew smaller and eventually disappeared from sight as they waded their way through what looked to be giant up-land ravines.  
  
Feeling nauseous after all the turns the cart made, Eskel was only too glad when they finally entered Vergen. When he looked up his mouth dropped open in awe as he took in the large stone buildings and the many small dwarves bustling about; he even spotted a few elves and humans as the cart rode on.  
  
When they hit a marketplace called Rhundurin square the cart stopped and the driver, the same man with the mermaids on his body, looked them up and down. “This is where I stop,” he told them. “In that direction is an inn called the Cauldron.” The man pointed over his shoulder. “Good luck, you two.”  
  
Getting off the cart, Eskel nodded absently, his mind already turned towards the next obstacles they’d have to tackle. He pressed a hand against his belly, feeling a bit nauseous as his stomach gurgled.  
  
“Thank you, William,” Keira spoke quietly. “Farewell.”  
  
Eskel looked back at the human, frowning as he realised he’d never bothered to learn any of the humans’ names, besides the captain’s. Keira apparently had used her time to familiarise herself with the crew. Well, good for her…  
  
He started walking in the direction the sailor had pointed towards. Inns and taverns were always the best places to obtain information of any kind, as travellers from far and wide came to unwind and seek out company, finally meeting up with people they could talk to, and usually the innkeeps had some good titbits of juicy gossip and information to share that they’d overheard.  
  
Walking around one of the rocky turns, Eskel silently cursed; this city was so confusing, rocks upon rocks upon rocks and dwarves were just small creatures, how could they find their way here without getting lost?  
  
Finally they reached a little open area. A sign post above a set of stone stairs, showing a fat woman drinking from a goblet while she sat in a cauldron, marked the entrance to Vergen’s inn.  
  
Sighing, Eskel’s shoulders hunched. He gripped the material over his stomach tighter; he really didn’t feel all that well. Swallowing, he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, taking in the new scents and relishing in the coolness of the air.   
  
“Eskel?” Keira reached up and touched his cheek, a concerned look on her face.  
  
Nuzzling against the witch’ warm hand, Eskel closed his eyes and breathed in. “The ride in the cart… feeling a bit nauseous. Hopefully it’ll be over soon…”  
  
When he opened his eyes again he saw Keira staring at him with narrowed eyes. “Some rest and some food first then… and we can ask the innkeep for the best way to travel to Ard Carraigh.”  
  
Eskel winced at the mention of food, but he knew that he could ill afford not to eat when he had the chance. And he’d been denying his body the needed sustenance ever since Lambert had been taken. He was a warrior, and his kind needed quite a bit more food than normal merfolk, but on the other hand when they were hunting they could force themselves to go on for long periods, barely sleeping, barely eating and drinking… He should force himself to eat when he still had the chance.  
  
“Eskel? Hey,” Keira lightly patted his cheek.   
  
Drawing back from her, Eskel took a step closer to the stone stairs. “An inn underground,” he mused, already fearing the noises and the stench.  
  
Keira sighed and headed down the steps. “Quite like Ys, wouldn’t you agree?”  
  
“Indeed,” Eskel walked after her.  
  
The moment they opened the door Eskel was pleasantly surprised at the quiet melodies he heard and the not-too-loud talking. Already the place felt different than a human inn, less rowdy, and he stepped inside, letting his eyes rove over the many tables and the fires burning inside. To his left, what seemed to be the innkeep stood behind a counter, patiently explaining to a drunken patron that he wasn’t getting any more mead for the night. The dwarf, not too pleased but resigned to his fate, stalked off in a huff.  
  
So many races together… dwarves, humans, elves and a race Eskel wasn’t familiar with were spread around the tables, drinking and playing games.   
  
Keira headed for one of the tables along one of the walls, close to the fire, and sat down. Eskel noticed she chose a spot that would allow her a good view of the inn and its patrons. Slowly, he joined her, staring at the fire burning in a fire pit nearby, mesmerised by the phenomenon. He knew what fire was, of course, but he’d never been this close before. It was so warm… he would have to figure out how to create this fire, Lambert would be ecstatic!  
  
Sighing, Eskel stared into the flames, breathing through the cramping in his stomach and he only noticed it vaguely when Keira stood up and walked over to the counter. She returned a moment later, two large mugs in her hands.  
  
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I for one am tired of all this travelling. I’ll have no trouble sleeping in just a moment.” She handed him a mug. “But first, a drink. Food’s coming up in a bit.”  
  
Eskel accepted it and, curious, sniffed it. Mead. He’d grown familiar with the smell by now but he’d never tasted it even despite the sailors offering some to him. Slowly bringing it to his lips, he tried out the taste, revelling at the feel of the apparently warm liquid sliding over his tongue. It was a bit spicy and his tongue buzzed pleasantly. “Thanks.”  
  
He didn’t know how he would have managed to come this far without Keira. From obtaining legs to finding out where Lambert was being taken to arranging transport for them, and now this… metal coins were apparently the currency of these land-dwellers, but Eskel didn’t own such things. In the sea some people traded pretty shells for food and drink, but he tended to hunt for his own meals and he hardly slept, swimming along the currents, always keeping an eye on things. It was only once a year that he’d meet up with Lambert in Ys and actually stay in an inn and then they usually traded pearls they’d scavenged before for exactly that purpose.  
  
Keira fished around in her dress pocket and pulled out the map Corinne had given them. “We’re here,” she tapped a spot a bit to the right of the map, “and this is where we need to go.”  
  
Eskel nodded, examining the route. They’d travelled quite a ways over the Pontar already, he was impressed. “So now we need to find some other means of transport, one that goes over land…”  
  
Taking a pull from her mead, Keira nodded. “Indeed. When I went to get us some mead I asked the innkeep about anyone travelling north, towards Ard Carraigh.”  
  
Eskel perked up, sipping his own drink. “And?”  
  
The witch’ eyes gleamed. “Apparently there’s a troupe of dwarves here, led by a Yarpen Zigrin, a dwarf with black hair, a long beard and apparently ‘shaved bald high up on the sides’. The innkeep didn’t want to give me their room number, but he did say they were heading out on the morrow, travelling by horse-drawn carts, and to seek them out on Rhundurin square at sun-up.”  
  
Frowning, Eskel wondered whether it would be better if he stayed awake all night. After all, this seemed to be their chance.  
  
“I asked the man to wake us up well before that time,” Keira informed him, taking another gulp of her mead. Her cheeks had a rosy tinge to them already and her eyes shone a bit.  
  
That’s when a dwarf with a short red beard walked up to them, holding two large plates filled with food and setting them down in front of them before silently leaving.  
  
Eskel’s mouth watered at the smells. He had no idea what all these things were, or where it had come from but it smelled great!  
  
They ate in silence and, finally sated and feeling warm from the mead and the fire, they went back to their room. Keira and Eskel both undressed, half-asleep on their feet already, and slipped under the covers, curling close to each other as had been their wont these last couple of days.  
  
~*~  
  
They were woken the next morning by a tapping on their door and a soft call and, after a hearty breakfast in which Eskel could eat as much as he wanted, both of them were ready to set out, gratefully accepting the bags the innkeep held out with a grunted “Provisions, as ordered”.   
  
Having passed through Rhundurin square on their way into Vergen, Eskel had thought it would be easy to find the way back, but somehow they got turned around and they had to trace back, trying to find their way to the square again.  
  
That’s when he heard it, soft footfalls behind them. Turning around a corner, tracing a bit back, Eskel noticed a tall bald man. An early riser perhaps? They continued walking, and the footfalls turned quieter, but still Eskel could hear them. He resisted the urge to look.  
  
When they finally arrived at the square Eskel dragged Keira over to one of the stalls, which was miraculously open and hosted by a young, sleepy looking elf, and pointed towards one of the items in a crate. “Don’t look,” he said, making sure the female merchant wouldn’t overhear them, “not just yet, but we’re being followed. Tall human, bald...” His gut feeling was shouting at him.  
  
Keira played along, shaking her head and pointing at another item in the merchant’s stall. “What do you intend to do?”  
  
Shaking his head, Eskel reached for Keira’s elbow and inclined his head at her, plastering a fake smile on his face. “Ask him why…” He started walking, and this time the confusing twists and turns of the dwarven streets worked in their favour, offering them a place to hide and lay in wait.  
  
They didn’t have to wait long.  
  
After several breaths, the bald man came around the corner and, immediately, Eskel reached for him, having only some minor difficulty due to the human’s size, and slammed him against the wall. He hissed. “Why have you been following us?”  
  
The human snorted and jerked his chin towards Eskel’s chest. “Odd necklace,” he spoke slowly.  
  
Eskel didn’t say anything, after all, the human’s words hadn’t been a question.  
  
A shrug. “Was travelling south, heading to the Yaruga you see, but couldn’t help but overhear you speaking to the barkeep.” His eyes drifted towards Keira, then moved on to Eskel. “Only once in my life have I seen eyes like yours on a sapient creature.” His eyes drifted down towards his wrist and recognition lit up in his eyes.  
  
“I’ll show you sapient!” Eskel snarled as he harshly slammed the man against the rock wall.  
  
The human didn’t react as he’d expected and, instead, giant arms wrapped around him, forcing his arms down and stilling his moves. “I’m not your enemy,” he spoke calmly, “sorceress, stand down!”  
  
Keira’s hands were up in the air and, while she seemed prepared to lash out at any moment, she didn’t attack. Not yet.  
  
“You’re one of the pack that took him!” Eskel snarled, trying to wiggle out of the human’s hold.  
  
“The merman?” The human asked. “I was,” he nodded.  
  
Eskel’s bristles rose and if he’d been in his normal shape his wing-fins would be spreading and shuddering at the bald man. Hissing, he was disappointed when his claws wouldn’t appear, and he couldn’t shake off those arms. “What… did you do to him?”  
  
“My name is Adam Pangratt,” the man introduced himself, “and I was hired by the king’s advisor to guard a transport of a merman all the way to Ard Carraigh.”  
  
Eskel couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You sick bastard, he’s still a merling!”  
  
The human blinked, but then recognition lit up in his eyes and he grimaced. “Was always told merfolk were like nekkers; sentient enough to organise attacks and form packs, but not like… not like us… humans, or other races. I know different now, but it was too late…”  
  
Eskel’s heart thrummed loudly against his chest. “What do you mean, _too late_?”  
  
The man looked at him, and his eyes shone with regret. “It was alive. At least, when we parted-”  
  
“Lambert’s a **_he_** you stupid land-dweller!” Eskel screeched, furious.  
  
Lifting his hands in the air, finally releasing him, the man nodded. “Apologies, _he… _Lambert… I’d wondered what his name was. I was observing him during our trek and the longer I spent time with him the more I started to suspect that he seemed far more intelligent than I’d been led to believe. When he said my name, that confirmed it and I tried to talk the others into turning around and releasing him but…” the human’s face scrunched up as he touched the bruise around his eye. “Unprepared… fisticuffs I could win and they agreed not to box him in again, but then Boholt heard me talking to Lambert, and he demanded that I leave. Said I mustn’t grow attached to a wild creature.” He harrumphed. “Told me I had one last opportunity to make the final stages of the journey easy for the merman. I’d been drugging the cr- Lambert’s food so he would sleep through all the jostling, he clearly couldn’t handle that. Got ill. Boholt allowed me to drug him one final time. My hand slipped… didn't know how bad until the merman drowsed off much quicker than before. The others’ hands were on their swords the whole time and I realised a lost fight when I saw one, so after that, I fled…”  
  
Drugging Lambert… drugging his little brother. And what was this about _boxing him in_? Eskel snarled, revealing his upper teeth, but before he could slam the man’s head one final time against the rock wall Keira stepped between them and lightly rested her hands on his shoulders, looking intently at him while she stroked his neck with her thumbs.  
  
“When did you last see him, Adam?” Keira asked the man, though she kept her gaze on Eskel.  
  
The man’s eyes drifted to the left and his lips pursed. “It’s been three days now.”  
  
“Is there any chance that he’s still alive?” Eskel demanded to know, growling lowly at the human. He felt like a shark, ready to pounce at any moment.  
  
Looking slightly uncomfortable, the man nodded jerkily. “When we received our orders from Dethmold it became clear that he’ll be safe until the king’s return, and Henselt’s not expected back for a fortnight yet.”  
  
Eskel let go of him and took a step back. “So there’s still time.”  
  
Nodding, the human pointed towards the square. “There’s a group of dwarves heading towards Ard Carraigh. Had a talk with them the night before. Weren’t pleased with king Henselt one bit after the whole bit with the Scoia’tael.”  
  
Eskel had no idea what those were. He looked over to Keira, pointing towards the cart. “Keira, let’s go.”  
  
The human stepped forward. “I can help.”  
  
Eskel’s fingers itched. “You’ve done enough.” Seriously, abducting _and _drugging his little brother? “If I had time to spare I’d kill you right here and be done with it.”  
  
The human shook his head. “The merman, Lambert… it was on Dethmold’s orders that he was taken. The man’s a mage and a dangerous one at that, and if the Crinfrid Reavers are still about seems to me you need all the help you can get.”   
  
“Why the change of heart?” Keira butted in. “You mentioned you were travelling south?”  
  
The man shrugged. “It didn’t sit right with me to leave him behind in the first place, but if you’re going I want to help. Make amends.”  
  
There was a soft noise in the distance, and looking over Eskel spotted the dwarves, hoisting barrels and other items onto a large cart. They’d have to hurry if they wanted to talk to them. He started walking, not bothering one way or another with the human, but he heard his footsteps joining Keira’s as she followed him.  
  
“Well met!” Eskel called when he thought he was close enough. “Which one of you is Yarpen Zigrin?”  
  
One of the dwarves came from around the wagon and he looked like Keira had described: dark hair, large beard and bald patches on his head. He looked at them with caution in his eyes. “Who’s asking?”  
  
Eskel patted his chest. “My name’s Eskel, and my companion here is Keira. We need to reach Ard Carraigh, but are unfamiliar with the lands and the innkeep said you’re heading out to that city?”  
  
Yarpen’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t know what you’re talking about, me and the boys are returning to Mahakam. Lucas is gonna get wed, after all.”  
  
He could understand why the dwarf was lying, but he didn’t have time for that.  
  
“We would pay you well for helping us reach the capital,” Keira said.  
  
“His little brother was abducted, on the orders of Dethmold,” a grumbling voice spoke up from behind him. The human, Adam.  
  
Eskel snarled low in his throat. His fingers itched.  
  
“Abducted?“ One of the dwarves up on the cart exclaimed, looking at him with pity. “I fear it’s too late for your brother.”  
  
“No,” Adam said, “they need him to cure Henselt’s curse. Dethmold wouldn’t dare to use him before Lambert’s use had run out.”  
  
“To cure Henselt’s curse?” Yarpen asked, disbelief clear in his voice. “We all know what that curse is about. A magical creature is needed to-” the dwarf trailed off, narrowing his gaze as his eyes roved over Eskel’s form, lingering just a bit too long on his eyes and the shell necklace around his neck. Sighing, the dwarf’s whole demeanour changed. “Of course…”  
  
Eskel reached up to his wrist, touching Lambert’s necklace. “Will you help?”  
  
Yarpen nodded and walked towards the back of the cart, patting the wood. “I will, we non-humans need to stand up for each other. Meet the boys, this here is Lucas Corto,” the dwarf in question nodded, “these two are Paulie and and Regan Dahlberg, this here is Xavier Moran and the fearsome warrior in the heavy armour is Yannick Brass. And you already know my name, Yarpen Zigrin.”  
  
Could it be this easy? Confused, Eskel looked towards Keira and the witch looked thoughtful for a moment before her face smoothened and she nodded.  
  
“And my name is Adam Pangratt,” Adam introduced himself, “and though I’m a human, I’d like to help out these two in freeing Lambert.”  
  
“Not a moment to waste then, aye?” Lucas asked, moving to sit in the front and grasping the reins of the land-kelpies.  
  
“That easy?” Eskel asked, still confused by the dwarves’ behaviour.  
  
Yarpen walked up and stopped right in front of him, pointing towards Lambert’s necklace before tapping the skin next to his own eye. “We’ve got our own beef with Henselt and his men, and I recognise _this_ from my grandmother’s tales.” The dwarf clapped him on his hip, the highest part he could reach. “Be glad to help out one of your kind. Perhaps…” and his toe scuffed the ground, “perhaps after this, when the lad’s home safe, you wouldn’t mind diving up some pearls for us?”  
  
Snorting, Eskel decided to just go with it. If these dwarves got them to Ard Carraigh and helped him get Lambert back he’d dive for them until the oyster beds were all empty.  
  
~*~  
  
When they’d reached the city that the dwarves assured them was Ard Carraigh, Keira held out her hand as she stepped off the cart. “Give me one of his scales, Eskel.”  
  
Frowning, Eskel retrieved one of the dark scales and handed it over to the sea witch, jumping down to the ground as well.  
  
Nodding, she lifted her hand, balling it into a fist and whispering some words that were too low for Eskel to overhear. When she unclenched her hand another ball of light rose from the palm of her hand, but this time it was coloured light green. “Lead us to Lambert,” she spoke barely above a whisper.  
  
The light swirled through the air and made a little circle before shuddering and flying in one direction, apparently finding the right trail.  
  
Eskel and Keira rushed after it, having no difficulties following the little orb as it went left and right, underneath stone arches and to the left. Adam, Yarpen and his troupe were following behind, trying to be as quiet as they could.  
  
It couldn’t have been all too long when they were led towards a heavy gate, but another word from Keira and they were able to go through it, and entered a garden, surrounded by high walls.  
  
The little ball of light swirled farther and, running after it, Eskel watched as it headed towards a patch of water, a pond. The glowing orb tried to enter the water, but all of a sudden it crashed against a barrier that lit up with a blue gleam, revealing a large dome entirely covering the pond, and the orb was destroyed.  
  
_A little wolf-fish, pressed flat along the bottom of a small bowl that was surrounded by a blue light…  
_  
Feeling his heart speed up, Eskel walked around the water, making sure not to step too close to the barrier.  
  
“A pond,” Keira’s voice sounded from behind, “transformed. Can you smell that?”  
  
Sniffing, Eskel noticed the salty tang that came from the water. He shrugged, nothing odd about that. Then he looked towards a patch of land and he shook his head. “I don’t understand.” He walked over to a small pile of dead fish that lay on the other side of the barrier, shoved up on the only patch of land available within the magical dome.  
  
“Fresh-water fish,” Adam’s voice intoned behind them, “shoved on land.”  
  
Fresh water? Confused, Eskel examined the fish corpses closer, noticing they were all wrinkly and dried out. He turned his head towards the water, easily spotting the wilting water lilies. He breathed in deeply, smelling the saltiness of the water.  
  
Stepping closer to the little patch of land, Eskel thought his heart would stop. _Tail marks_. Very familiar tail marks…   
  
_“Lambert?”_ Eskel called quietly. He just knew that his brother was in that water. _“Lambert, brother?”_  
  
He waited with baited breath, and when he saw a head popping up out of the water he felt his knees go weak and he collapsed to the ground. _“Lambert,”_ he breathed, taking in all that he could of his brother, desperately wanting to see more of him to determine his state.  
  
Lambert’s head was sticking half-way out of the water, and, looking behind Eskel, he whistled and sank down.  
  
Confused, Eskel looked behind him, seeing the human and the dwarves standing close by. Lambert’s captor… and unfamiliar land-dwellers. Unknowns. _“They’re here to help,”_ he told him, _“I can explain more about this, but we need to get you out of here.”  
_  
Ripples in the water alerted him that Lambert was swimming just below the surface and then the merman reached the small patch of land. Still in the water, Lambert shuddered and rolled belly up, his eyes closing and his breath hitching. Eskel noticed the dark manacles cuffed around his brother’s wrists and the chain leading into the water.  
  
Feeling his hackles rise, Eskel barely prevented himself from reaching inside the barrier and picking Lambert up and into his arms.  
  
This was all WRONG. Lambert was way too listless and he was even showing his vulnerable side. _“Keira, do something about the barrier, **now**!”_ He hissed. _“Lambert, can you look at me? Tell me how you’re doing, bud?”_  
  
“Be prepared, everyone,” Keira warned. “The moment I lift this barrier, whoever cast it will become aware of it and is certain to come down. Ready your weapons.” She twirled her hands before her and lifted them in the air, pushing harshly downwards as she muttered a few quiet words.  
  
The barrier glowed blue and then exploded.  
  
Immediately, Eskel crawled the small distance and picked up a clearly very ill Lambert in his arms, hugging his merling to his chest and nuzzling the top of his head. _“It’s gonna be all right, we’ll get you out of here."_  
  
Lambert tiredly nuzzled Eskel’s chest and he reached up with his hands, but the chains holding him pulled taut and he couldn’t move any farther. A small whimper escaped his throat and he jerked his chains again, and again, his movements turning frantic.  
  
Eskel wrapped his arms around Lambert, stilling the youngster’s panicked movements, and scooted closer to the water, giving Lambert’s chains a bit more slack.  
  
Supporting Lambert’s back, Eskel could clearly feel his brother’s ribs. He’d become so thin, and right now his body was much too cold. Reaching into the water, Eskel shivered at its iciness. _Cold watery prison, cold night air. _Clearly his brother had been coming up on this little piece of land, to warm up in the sun, but his captors clearly had no idea as to merfolk biology. Hugging Lambert closer to him, taking care not to squash the merling (too badly), Eskel was very, _very_ glad that Lambert was alive.  
  
_“Es-kel?”_ Lambert wheezed, curling his tail and letting his caudal fin rest over his legs.  
  
_“Good… good.”_ Eskel looked behind him, seeing Adam with his sword out and Keira anxiously staring at the gate. _“Keira, can you transform him? Give him legs?”  
_  
_“Legs?”_ Lambert sang, twitching his tail. He looked down and blinked tiredly, frowning. His hands trembled as he reached for Eskel’s legs and he poked the new appendages, confusion and disbelief on his face. _“Legs?”_ He poked Eskel’s legs again.  
  
Eskel huffed a small laugh. _“Keira gave me some legs so I could go up on land, don’t worry, she’ll return my tail.”  
_  
There was a blinding white flash and a loud clap like thunder and Eskel ducked his head, covering Lambert as much as he could. When he looked up an old man stood in the garden, a man with a horribly wrinkly face and a metal staff with some kind of bird on it.  
  
_“Go in the water, you’ll be safer there,”_ he murmured quietly, letting go of Lambert.  
  
_“No!”_ Lambert sang, panicked, and he tried to slither closer to Eskel, but was stopped by the chains.  
  
_“Now!”_ Eskel growled, feeling a tearing pain in his chest. Lambert had to be safe, and he had no idea what this new human, the mage Dethmold no doubt, would do. He’d apologise later. His heart only grew a bit lighter when he saw Lambert crawling back towards the water and finally disappear below its surface. That would do.  
  
“Adam Pangratt,” the mage drawled, “you know I could incinerate you with just a wave of my wand, just like I did to Boholt.”  
  
Adam circled the human, keeping his sword in front of him. “What of the other Crinfrid Reavers?”  
  
Dethmold’s eyes narrowed. “Traitors, the lot of them. Fled like thieves in the night one day after Boholt’s death. I guess they didn’t want the reward king Henselt promised for your splendid catch, but they’ll get their just due.” The mage looked to Yarpen’s troupe and then towards Eskel and Keira. “And who are you? Come to steal the creature, have you?” He looked speculative, his eyes settling on Keira. “You must be the sorceress, the other one looks more like a fighter than a spell caster. And how is a group of dwarves involved in all of this, hum?”  
  
“The king has got some explaining to do,” Yarpen growled, fondling his axe. “Rocks, huh? Nearly got me and the boys killed for a valuable transport of _ordinary rocks_!”  
  
Keira kept silent, and so did Eskel.  
  
Dethmold waved his hand at the dwarves, clearly disinterested in their anger and not even sparing them a second glance. “Well, it is of no matter to me who you are, but I cannot allow you to take the merling.”  
  
“You’ll die for this,” Eskel gritted out, wishing his claws would elongate, “you know you’re holding a youngster captive. What do you intend to do with him? Are you aware that you’re killing him? It’s much too cold! And have you even _fed_ him?”  
  
Dethmold tilted his head and a pink tongue came out to lick his lower lip. “King Henselt is in great need… the creature is the cure to the curse he suffers.”  
  
Eskel cocked his head, his thoughts whirring in his mind. “This king of yours will have to seek another way to solve his curse. Lambert’s coming with me.”  
  
Dethmold blinked, startled. “Lambert?” A pleased gleam appeared in the mage’s eyes. “You know the merling…”  
  
“Keira…” Eskel reached for his sword and pulled it from its scabbard.  
  
That’s when the fight started. Dethmold waved his metal rod at them, and what looked to be lightning shot from its tip. Before it could reach any of them though, Keira threw her hands up in the air, and a yellow barrier formed around them, absorbing the lightning, while she cast another spell, hitting the metal rod and causing Dethmold to drop it.  
  
“Come on boys,” Yarpen shouted, lifting his axe, “at him!” And all the dwarves, Pauli, Lucas, Regan, Xavier and Yannick, joined him as he ran towards the mage.  
  
Eskel rolled his eyes. More brawn than brain those dwarves, going after a human _sorcerer_.  
  
Dethmold too was unimpressed. The mage simply shrugged his shoulders and a moment later a white light encompassed his form, then he swirled towards the other side of the garden and settled down there.   
  
Eskel gritted his teeth. “Keira, can you keep him in place for a while? Prevent him from using magic?”  
  
Keira’s hands fluttered in front of her. “What do you think I’m trying to do?” She released another spell, and several balls of purple light swirled low to the ground, travelling towards Dethmold.   
  
With a screech, the human mage cursed as the balls exploded and he tried to lift his arms, but whatever spell Keira had cast, Dethmold seemed to be frozen in place.  
  
“Quickly, it won’t last long,” Keira urged.  
  
Adam was first to reach Dethmold, Eskel right behind him. They didn’t get the time they needed as Keira’s magic fell away, and Dethmold immediately cast a spell at Adam, knocking the man to the floor. While Dethmold was distracted though Eskel swung his sword and managed to hit him in the side, slicing through a great part of the mage’s belly.  
  
Dethmold sputtered, one hand reaching up to the wound in his side, while leaning on the other. “What?” He coughed.  
  
Eskel kept his eyes on the mage as he stalked closer. Furious, he knocked Dethmold’s hand out from under him and then he rolled the human onto his back and sat down on him. He grasped the mage’s chin and jerked it, tilting the man’s head to the side. “You hurt _my _merling!” He hissed lowly, adjusting his grip on his sword.  
  
“No, please! I’ll give you whatever you want!” Dethmold pleaded.  
  
Eskel bent over the man, guiding his sword slowly into the man’s chest, piercing his heart. He shook his head and snarled, revealing his upper teeth, but there was not even a hint of joy when the mage’s eyes dulled and the human gasped for the last time. He stood up and lifted his sword, decapitating the mage. He really hoped, by Melusine’s grace, that Dethmold wasn’t like a sea-star…  
  
“It’s all right, Eskel,” Keira spoke quietly, “he’s dead. He won’t come back. See to your merling now, I’ll see to Adam.”  
  
Blinking, Eskel breathed in deeply and swiftly wiped his sword on the mage’s robes before sheathing it again. Then he hurried to the water’s edge, towards the patch of land Lambert had been able to reach earlier and he took a few steps inside the icy cold water. Immediately a sense of guilt washed over him at having forced his brother back inside this icy death trap, but at least down below he’d been safe from the mage’s attacks.  
  
_“Lambert? Come on up, it’s safe now.”  
_  
The rippling of the water informed him that Lambert was swimming towards him and a moment later his arms were full with the form of a silently sobbing merling. Eskel stroked Lambert’s back up and down, hugging him close to his chest. _“Shhh, it’s nearly over. I’m here, you’re safe…”  
_  
_“Eskel!”_ Lambert cried, grasping the material over his chest and ducking his head down. _“You’re here!”_  
  
_“Keira… can you do anything about his chains?”_ Eskel didn’t look back at the witch, too focused on Lambert.  
  
_“Just a moment, Eskel. I need to make sure Adam won’t bleed out,”_ Keira called out.  
  
“Yarpen, you and the others all right?” Eskel asked as he walked backwards, dragging Lambert on land.  
  
“Why, I’ll have you know that-” Pauli started, only to be interrupted by Yarpen.  
  
“Fine, Eskel. Me and the boys are just fine.” Yarpen walked up to him, looking at Lambert’s wrists and nodding thoughtfully. “Ah, these are Kaedweni locks.” The dwarf reached for his belt, opening up a little pouch and taking out some small tools. “I got this covered.”  
  
Lambert whined and he tried to twist loose, but Eskel held him closer and cupped the back of his neck. _“You’re safe, Lambert. This is Yarpen, he’s helped us get here. If you just hold still for a moment he can free you.”  
_  
Jerkily, Lambert nodded.  
  
Hesitantly, moving slowly, Yarpen walked up to them. “Just a little wiggle here, another wiggle there and the mechanism will pop,” he said.  
  
_“What?”_ Lambert asked, and Eskel noticed the full-blown confusion on his brother’s face.  
  
_“He’ll open your cuffs, just let him close,”_ Eskel told him, only then realising that Lambert couldn’t understand the dwarf.  
  
It seemed to be Yarpen’s turn to look at him funnily then as the dwarf cocked his head at him. “It’s pretty eerie hearing you and Keira switch from normal talk to singing the way you do.”  
  
Eskel smiled wryly. “He’ll let you come closer now, just don’t make any sudden moves, and keep your voice down.”  
  
Huffing, the dwarf stepped closer and before he started meddling with the cuffs he ducked his head lower, seeking out Lambert’s eyes and smiling kindly at him. “Let me just get rid of those for you, Lambert.”  
  
Lambert hissed, revealing his long fangs and Eskel sighed, adjusting his grip on his brother just a bit to allow Yarpen better access to the metal cuffs.  
  
Within a few moments first one cuff, then the other, fell from Lambert’s wrists and his brother’s wing-fins flared before he tried to wrap them around Eskel, his arms going around his back and squeezing just a bit too tight as he pressed his face in the crook of Eskel’s neck.  
  
_“Missed you,”_ Lambert sang, _“thanks for… co-ming… after me.”_  
  
Eskel sighed and carefully squeezed back. _“Missed you too…”_  
  
_“Uhhum,”_ Keira’s soft voice hummed behind them and Eskel twisted just a bit until he and Lambert could see her clearly. The witch looked at Lambert with sorrowful eyes for just a moment before she schooled her expression, and then she knelt next to them on the soggy ground_. “Hello, Lambert, my name’s Keira. We’re going to take you home, but for that we need to travel over land.”_ Seeing him tense, she lightly touched his shoulder. _“I’ll give you legs, turn you into a human, same as Eskel and me.”_  
  
Eskel felt Lambert’s wing-fins tapping against his side. _“She’s good, bud, you can trust her.”_ He reassured.  
  
_“Fine,”_ Lambert agreed, though his wings-fins didn’t still.  
  
Keira whispered her spell and a little ball of light appeared, and when the magic was done Eskel held a transformed Lambert in his arms. His brother was dressed in thick and no doubt warm clothes, but still he was shivering and blinking tiredly.  
  
“Think you can stand?” Eskel asked, adjusting his hold.  
  
“Dunno,” Lambert shrugged, “feel _off…_”  
  
Eskel frowned. “_Did _they feed you at all? You’re skin and bones.”  
  
Lambert shrugged again.  
  
Sighing, Eskel slowly stood up, taking Lambert with him and setting the merman-turned-human upright on his new feet. He got it. The humans may have fed him, but it hadn’t been the right food, and clearly not enough.  
  
The moment Lambert stood though Eskel could feel the tremors running through his brother’s body and when Lambert took a step his legs collapsed from under him. It was only Eskel’s hold on him that prevented him from bashing his head on the floor.  
  
“Lambert?” Eskel stroked his cheek, seeing the youngster’s eyes rolled upwards.  
  
“Dizzy,” Lambert slurred, “off.” He weakly waved his hand.  
  
There was a prickling sensation at Eskel’s back and a small voice, sounding an awful lot like Vesemir was telling him to _retreat, fall back!_  
  
“Gonna pick you up, stay still.” Eskel lifted Lambert into his arms and walked over towards where Keira was attending a dazed-looking Adam.  
  
“He’ll be fine, luckily,” Keira murmured, tying off a bandage around the human’s waist. “Take it easy, rest and you will recover,” she told the man.  
  
Adam nodded and one of his hands hesitantly fluttered over the bandage, afraid to touch. Then the man’s eyes looked up, towards Lambert. “He all right?”  
  
Eskel couldn’t help the snarl that escaped his throat. Looking down he saw that Lambert’s eyes were closed and the youngster’s breathing was slower; he’d fallen asleep, but still small shivers wrecked through his body. “No, he’s not. Can you stand?” If he could not he was perfectly willing to leave the human behind.  
  
“I can try,” Adam said, accepting the hand Keira held out and managing to stay on his feet with her help. “Will manage now, gonna head back to the cart…” He started walking, following after the dwarves, Keira supporting him as much as she could.  
  
“Let’s go home,” Eskel whispered to his brother, following after them.  
  
~*~  
  
The ride back in the cart wasn’t any more pleasant than before, but at least now Eskel knew what he could expect. He and Lambert were in the back, the youngster lying down and wrapped up in extra furs. At first, Eskel had let him sleep, but when the sun showed herself again Eskel gently shook his brother.  
  
“Lambert? Want to try some food?”  
  
“No,” Lambert moaned, turning his head, his eyes still closed, and when Eskel touched him the youngster snarled faintly, showing off his fangs.  
  
Eskel lay down and rolled onto his side, facing Lambert. “It’ll make you feel better.”  
  
“Don’ wanna… get… snipp’d,” Lambert slurred as he rolled his head, tucking it underneath Eskel’s chin.  
  
Eskel frowned. What did he mean?  
  
“Can’t… trust’em,” Lambert continued, hunching in on himself.  
  
Eskel pulled Lambert closer to him, cradling him to his chest. “You trust me?”  
  
“Hnng…” The merling’s eyes remained closed.  
  
He started stroking Lambert’s shoulder. “You need to eat, Lambert, they’ve clearly not been feeding you enough.”  
  
Lambert twisted away a bit, sheer panic on his face. “Not ‘ungry… not… an’more. Mus’be… a-lert. Don’ wanna… don’ wanna get snipp’d!” The youngster’s voice rose up in a whine as he feebly pushed at Eskel’s chest.  
  
Eskel’s heart broke. This wasn’t a good sign, not at all. Nuzzling the top of Lambert’s head, he held his brother to him. Breathing in deeply, he slowly blew out the air. Calm, he needed to stay calm. “No snipping, Lambert, I promise.” He started humming an old tune, one that he’d used as Lambert’s lullaby when he’d still been a merfry.  
  
Lambert slowly quieted.  
  
“Trust me and try and eat some?” Eskel tried again.  
  
“Hmmf…” Lambert huffed.  
  
Reaching behind him, Eskel felt around until he found one of the bags with their provisions, dragging himself and Lambert up to lean against the wall of the cart. It took a bit of cajoling, and it was nowhere near as much as he’d have preferred, but Eskel managed to get something in Lambert’s belly. He grimaced, realising that until Lambert could eat larger meals they’d have to go through this ordeal quite often. Even now his brother was tense, likely expecting to fall unconscious again as he’d had before, when Adam had drugged his food.  
  
Turning his head, Eskel glared at the human. A tiny part of him knew Adam had meant well, trying to prevent an ill merling from having to suffer any further, but the human had instilled a new fear in Lambert, one Eskel wasn’t so sure he would bounce back from any time soon.  
  
Noticing his glare, Adam looked up at him and met his gaze. Then he pulled back and looked in the other direction, his lips pulled down in a frown.  
  
Turning his head back, Eskel looked down, feeling the small trembles. “Go to sleep, Lambert, I’ll wake you when it’s time for some food again.”  
  
“Nooo…” Lambert whined softly, blinking sluggishly, clearly fighting to stay awake.  
  
Eskel fussed a bit, arranging Lambert until he lay in his lap and then he undid the knot around his own wrist and tied the necklace back around Lambert’s neck.  
  
Reaching up to grasp his shell, Lambert’s eyes drooped and his body turned limp.  
  
Looking towards the front of the cart, Eskel sighed.  
  
~*~  
  
They’d left for Bremervoord much the same way they’d come. It took them three days to travel from Ard Carraigh to Vergen and once there, Eskel and Keira had parted from Adam and Yarpen’s group, after a promise to meet the dwarves again in the summer, at Bremervoord’s harbour.  
  
They’d rented a room at the Cauldron and sought out a ship’s captain travelling west and weren’t actually all that surprised to find captain Liglad preparing to set sail again in a few days time, his current business concluded.  
  
Lambert had slept a lot during those days, so he hadn’t been all too aware of what was going on around him; he likely only saw a few glimpses here and there of the dwarven city.  
  
The night before they sailed west Lambert was much improved, more awake and alert, though he still looked tired.  
  
“Lambert? Want to show you something…” Eskel sat on the bed, trying to figure out what areas would be safe to poke and prod.  
  
Currently the youngster lay under several piles of blankets, hogging a large pillow to his chest. “Nest’s finally warm,” Lambert grumped, blinking open his eyes.  
  
Eskel grinned. “Wanna show you something, bet you’ll like it,” he jerked his head towards the door, “we can have food out there as well while we’re at it.”  
  
Lambert huffed. “While _you’re _at it.”  
  
“Lamberrrrtt,” Eskel whined, carefully poking his brother, “you’ll love it, trust me.”  
  
Narrowing his gaze at him, Lambert sighed, resignedly. “This better be good.”  
  
Helping the still slightly wobbly youngster up, Eskel made sure he was clothed nice and warm before guiding him outside, to the inn. He waited a few breaths, waiting for Lambert to become used to the noise before he headed towards a corner of the inn he and Keira had basically claimed as theirs ever since their first stay.  
  
Lambert’s eyes lit up as he was sat down on the bench and he reached a hand out towards a merrily burning fire. “Fire!” He shuffled a bit closer and for a moment Eskel feared that he wanted to get _inside _the fire pit, but he shouldn’t have worried. Lambert held out his hands towards the fire and turned them this way and that. “This feel great! They should have one of these in every room!”  
  
Smiling, Eskel headed over to the innkeep and ordered the three of them some food and drink. Then he returned and sat next to his brother, who was sniggering as he wriggled his fingers at the yellow flames.  
  
Eating and drinking that time was not an ordeal, luckily, with Lambert distracted by the fire. He managed to eat more than before, but afterwards he still became drowsy, so Eskel pulled the youngster up and walked him over to their room, stripping off his clothes before tucking him into bed. Then he removed his own clothes and slipped in beside his brother. Clothes were nice and all, but he had a feeling they just got in the way of sharing body heat and they made is so much more difficult to feel each other.  
  
A moment later Keira entered their room, a usual custom by now, though this was the first time Lambert was at least sort of awake to witness it. Taking off her dress, the witch slipped in on Lambert’s other side and pressed close to his body, laying a hand on top of his head and stroking soothingly.  
  
When he was sure Lambert had fallen asleep, Eskel made sure to keep his voice low. “Thank you,” he said quietly, mindful of the sleeping youngster, “he wouldn’t be here, _alive_, if you hadn’t helped me.”  
  
“You’re very welcome,” Keira replied just as quietly, keeping up her soothing strokes.  
  
“Any chance you’re willing to tell me of these three favours that I owe you now?”  
  
Keira reached a hand up over Lambert until she could touch him, and the witch lifted her head from the mattress, a kind smile on her face though her eyes twinkled merrily. “Well, just the first, after all, the second two favours depend on the outcome of the first… There’s a rumour that in a cave, not too far from Ys, one of our ancestors hid away a magical lamp. I’m very much interested in finding out whether the rumours are true, but when I swam near the area there was a disturbance in the water and I could hear the gurgles of waterlets swimming about, making a nuisance of themselves. I could not enter.”  
  
Eskel frowned. “Waterlets huh? Why not just use your magic on them?”  
  
Keira sighed, a bit frustrated. “There’s something near or in the cave that’s blocking my magic, that’s why I haven’t been able to take care of this matter myself.”  
  
Looking down, Eskel felt a smile pulling at his lips. “You know, Lambert loves hunting waterlets…”  
  
As if to prove his interest, Lambert shifted beneath the blankets, and a quiet hum rose from his throat.  
  
Keira patted the youngster’s arm. “Well, two warriors are better than one…” she murmured, sounding pleased. “I’m in no rush. Be prepared though, the other two favours, if the lamp is what it promises to be then you’ll be busy for quite some time, perhaps several moons even…”  
  
Eskel froze for a moment, realising suddenly that in all of this he’d never once thought to send a message to Gwynbleidd and Vesemir; he would need to make sure to send out several fish to pass along his message when they were back in the sea.  
  
“That’s fine, we’re used to being out on the path,” he told her, wondering what the other two favours could be, and what exactly the story behind the magical lamp was; why Keira was interested in it.  
  
“Good… very good,” Keira drawled, shuffling closer to Lambert and closing her eyes.  
  
Checking the room one final time to make sure that everything was as it should be, Eskel listened to the quiet breathing of his companions.  
  
Tomorrow they’d sail west, and in a few days they’d be back in the sea. Familiar surroundings. They’d help out Keira and after that he and Lambert would head for Caer a’Muirehen to finally meet up with Gwynbleidd and Vesemir…  
  
Reaching out, Eskel lay a hand on Lambert’s hip, still a bit surprised at finding warm flesh instead of scales and fins, and closed his eyes, allowing himself to drift off to sleep.  
  
**The end**


	3. Art: Eskel and Lambert, playing otter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After all that angst and tension, have a fluffy scene; one of the memories Eskel related to Corinne. ,')

Art made by the lovely Mothelia ([OpheliaTheMoth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OpheliaTheMoth) on AO3); click [this link](https://ko-fi.com/mothelia) for more information and art!

Thank you so much, Moth! <3

* * *

(open image in new tab for full size)

**Author's Note:**

> As to the rape/non-con tag - Dethmold's touching Lambert behind his pelvic fins, fondling what he shouldn't. That's as far as the mage will go, nothing graphic, but poor Lambert definitely didn't like it and it was definitely non-con.  
*  
As for the non-con drug use - Adam's been drugging his food with something that has a tranquilising effect - he doesn't want the merman to suffer through the ride, which he's clearly not handling all that well, and Lambert is furious when he finds out.  
*  
Of course, the scene with Corinne heavily borrows from the scene in the game… and the sailor’s comments as well.  
*  
Next story will definitely be easier/happier for all the mermen ,') <3


End file.
